


Unfinished Business

by joestars



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Romeo and Juliet AU, sexy sexy Catholicism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-08-20 14:54:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16557881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joestars/pseuds/joestars
Summary: Ronan snorted, “You sound like Noah, all cryptic and whatever. Like you’re about to recite some Queen Mab bullshit.”Suddenly, Noah appeared behind the couch and flopped over it, elbowing Ronan in the stomach in the process. “I dreamed a dream tonight, that dreamers often lie!” he wailed as Ronan howled in pain.“Blessed Mary, Virgin Mother, make me not end you!”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> yes... it's a r&j au that no one asked for. There's some borrowed elements from Romeo + Juliet with guns replacing swords but that's basically it. There are still some magical elements such as Ley lines, Glendower, etc. but Ronan isn't the greywaren. Also Kavinsky doesn't exist. 
> 
> This won't fall into the "bury your gays" trope so fear not! I've used all of my writing powers to avoid it. 
> 
> Have fun guessing who's who!

_Two households, both alike in dignity (in fair Verona, where we lay our scene). From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life, whose mis-_

 

Silence filled the empty air. The stereo died, the car did too. Gansey didn’t have the luxury to take the time to let out a swear as he was too preoccupied with steering his Camaro off the highway and onto a somewhat flat area. While it was hard to navigate in the dark, he managed to find a space where he’d be safe from any oncoming traffic. It was just his luck, he’d planned to unwind to a reading of Romeo and Juliet but of course! The universe had other plans, per usual. Resting his head on the steering wheel, Gansey sighed deeply - the battery must’ve died, that was the only explanation for his stereo giving up as well. Gansey squeezed his eyes shut and sighed again before lifting his head off the wheel, quickly patting down his pockets in desperate in his search to find his phone. It was a once in a lifetime occurrence for him to go anywhere without it. He was without it.

As he calculated how far the next emergency phone booth was, a car rolled up behind the Pig, its headlights reflecting off of Gansey’s rear vision mirror, temporarily blinding him. Now, that was unusual. Tentatively stepping out of the car, the pieces began to fall into place - it was Whelk’s car, an obnoxious lime green Dodge Challenger. Absolutely hideous. Barrington Whelk exited his car, slamming his door in the process, and dropped his lit cigarette to the ground.

“I didn’t expect you to be out here, did Mummy and Daddy lift your curfew?” Whelk said, crushing the cigarette, “What are you doing?”

“My car broke down, I was just driving through.” The air felt heavy, almost suffocating, “I’ll be out of your way soon enough.”

Whelk took out his Rapier 9MM as an answer, the moonlight reflecting off of the barrel - a small cross hung off the grip. It wasn’t the first time Whelk had brandished his gun, it wouldn’t be the last time either.

“What do you want, Whelk?”

“You know what I want, give me the journal.”

As much as Gansey hated the idea of declining when he was stuck in the position he was in, he knew he couldn’t. “I can’t do that, you know I can’t do that.”

In an instant, Gansey was pinned up against the Pig, the muzzle of the gun was pressed against his temple. He could hear his pulse thump in his head - distantly, Gansey recalled the various newspaper clippings he collected, they all had one thing in common: dead bodies found in ditches.

“Give me the fucking journal,” Whelk sneered, “or you’re going to regret this deeply.”

The cicadas answered for Gansey, their noise filled the heavy silence that hung above the two of them.

“You leave me no choice.” A click resounded through the air - Whelk had taken the safety off. He let go of Gansey and pointed the Rapier directly at his forehead, it was as if Whelk was trying to work himself up to commit the act. They both stood at a standstill, there would be no going back from this. Gansey was going to die, he’d just be another body added to the long, bloody list that never seemed to end.

Taking a deep breath, Gansey tried to think back to the the very basics of self-defence Ronan had taught him; hit with your body, look where you’re punching. Time stood still as Whelk kept aim and Gansey swung, his fist connected with a loud thwack and the Rapier fell. It was only seconds later that both of them dove where the gun landed, Gansey flailing gracelessly into the darkness as he attempted to push the gun into the overgrown vegetation. His foot connected with Whelk a couple of times - first his face, then his shoulder - before Gansey finally managed to kick away the Rapier.

Whelk grabbed Gansey by the collar, raising his fist.

“You fucking little sh-” Before he could finish, another car could be heard - the engine hummed and its owner revved in warning. He dropped him to the ground before scrambling to his feet and running off back to his own car; witnesses made things complicated.

Whelk’s car roared to life and in the blink of the eye, he was back on the highway bound to Henrietta. Seconds later, Noah’s red Mustang pulled up into the now empty space and honked at Gansey, who was sat on the gravel. He pressed his eyes shut, waves of pain emitting from his thumb - yeah, maybe it was broken. Probably should’ve listened to Ronan a bit better.

“You alright?” Noah said - if Gansey didn’t know him better, he’d have been terrified by his ability to practically appear out of thin air, “Ouch, that thumb doesn’t look good.”

Gansey shook his head, “I think I’ve broken it… Whelk held me up, he wants the journal.”

“Waters wet, the sky is blue, Whelk wants the journal. What’s new?”

“I don’t know if it’s just _him_ that wants it, this feels different.” Gansey hoisted himself up off the ground and began walking to the driver’s seat of the Pig, “Dangerous. Close.”

The Pig miraculously sprang to life, its battery seemingly refilled.

“ _What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word, as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee._ ” The stereo seemed to work fine too, it had skipped halfway through the first act but he wasn’t too bothered by that fact. The Pig’s sudden reanimation was what worried him.

“It’s not a game anymore, that’s for sure.” Noah said, he placed a hand on Gansey’s shoulder.

“It was never a game, at least not to me.”

“I know.”

He closed the door shut and put the gear into drive, he knew he’d meet Noah back at Monmouth - there was no doubting that. The expanse of the darkness was overwhelming as Gansey followed the road back to Henrietta, the city lights too far away. To know that red Mustang was somewhere behind him was his only comfort as he ruminated over what had happened, what to do next, and why the hell broken bones hurt so much.

 

————

 

“The fuck happened to you?” Ronan pushed himself off his seat, gawking at the comically large splint Gansey was sporting on his hand.

“Broke my thumb, I kept it inside of my fist.”

“I’m appalled and insulted that you forgot the very, very first thing I taught you.” Ronan scoffed, throwing his hands in the air, “You’re such a dumbass. That’s 101 stuff, what’s _wrong_ with you? Too busy thinking about Glendower’s ass instead of what I’m teaching you?”

Gansey was well aware this was a tactic to keep the atmosphere light, he knew Ronan was aware of what the implications of a broken thumb were - it wasn’t Gansey’s MO to get into random fights.

The front door squeaked which gave away Noah’s entrance, they both turned to look at him and in return, Noah gave a wave before making his way up the stairs towards his bedroom. Gansey pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing in the process, and then turned back to Ronan.

“Whelk found me on the side of the highway, he wanted the journal.” Gansey answered the unspoken question, “He’s… under pressure, it’s not like his usual demands.”

“Do you think he’s in trouble?” Ronan asked as he walked back over to the couch and sat down.

Gansey took a few moments to answer, he walked over to the window and peered into the darkness outside. The trees danced wildly in the wind, a storm was brewing and a light drizzle was tapping on the glass.

“I think he might not be in good graces, anymore.” he finally said, “I believe trouble is coming and we’re in the middle of it.”

Ronan snorted, “You sound like Noah, all cryptic and whatever. Like you’re about to recite some Queen Mab bullshit.”

Suddenly, Noah appeared behind the couch and flopped over it, elbowing Ronan in the stomach in the process. “I dreamed a dream tonight, that dreamers often lie!” he wailed as Ronan howled in pain.

“Blessed Mary, Virgin Mother, make me not _end you!_ ” Ronan shouted as he rolled off the couch to escape Noah’s pointy elbows, “You’re a little demon, did you know that?”

“Shut up, you love me and we all know it.” Noah said with a grin plastered on his face, “It’s only a matter of time before you propose. We’re going to have a summer wedding!”

Gansey called over from the window, “Noah, this wind you talk of, blows us from ourselves.”

“Gansey, that literally makes no sense. Are you looking up the damn play on your phone?” Ronan asked as he sat up from the floor, “I’m _surrounded_ by fucking nerds, I can’t take this anymore. I’m officially filing my eviction notice. I’m gone.”

Noah rubbed his hands over Ronan’s newly shaved head, “I don’t think that’s how it works. Isn’t Gansey supposed to evict you?” His hands were quickly swatted away as Ronan went to stand and make his way to his room.

“Don’t know, don’t care!” Ronan yelled, “I’m going to bed, you can go nerd off together.”

“Wait, no! I have an invitation to a party tonight, you can’t go sleep yet!” Noah scrambled off to his feet, “And you’ll never guess where to.”

This did nothing to stop Ronan from loudly slamming his door shut, a muffled “I don’t do parties” could be heard from inside the room. However, Noah wasn’t deterred - it was a common occurrence for Ronan to play hard to get, he’d always act as if the very things that interested him were abhorrent.

So, rather than give up gracefully, Noah continued to try to persuade Ronan by slipping increasingly pathetic post-it note messages saying something along the lines of ‘im terminally ill, my last wish is to go to the masquerade :(’ or ‘im filing a divorce if you dont come </3’ under his door.

After a rather large pile had accumulated, Ronan finally caved (“You owe me, big time.”) and so the trio got ready for the annual masquerade the Sargent’s held; it was a wonder how Noah got his hands on an invite, usually only a select few - who were usually their clients - were invited and as far as Gansey and Ronan were concerned, Noah wasn’t the type searching for his future to be predicted.

Noah took it upon himself to be the designated driver, despite the fact Gansey decided for Ronan that neither of them were going to drink, so they took the Mustang to 300 Fox Way. By all means, it was a rather short drive but there was something about that night that made the trip feel like it was taking hours - perhaps it was the energy in the atmosphere from the oncoming storm or the nerves Gansey expelled after his encounter with Whelk that made it drag on but Ronan was becoming increasingly irritable, anxious, because of it. He was unable to get a proper bite onto his well-worn leather bands to calm himself due to the raven mask he’d donned for the masquerade; the beak extended downwards and obscured the bottom half of his face, it was a display of black and gold feathers that wrapped around his cheeks and left gaping holes where his eyes were. While beautiful, it was intimidating, especially when juxtaposed with the studded leather jacket Ronan decided to wear despite the protests from Noah that it “went against the dress code”. His other two friends were more dressed for the occasion - Noah had slathered enough highlighter and glitter onto his face to pass as a disco ball, he carried a hand-held silver filigree mask whereas Gansey had opted for a more classic look, wearing a three piece black suit and a simple, white mask. Though, as much he may try, he looked a bit roughed up with the splint.

The three of them didn’t look like they belonged together, especially when exiting the mustang, which is something that brought no end of amusement to Noah.

“You’re definitely getting kicked out, they specifically said _suits -_ not jeans, not leather jackets.” Noah told him for the twenty-fifth time that night, “I mean, seriously, are you trying to get me banned for life?”

Ronan slammed the passenger seat car door shut which made a worried look pass over Noah’s face, “It’s what you deserve for dragging me out here.”

“Can we please keep the bickering to a minimum?” Gansey asked, exasperated, “I don’t want to be turned away at the door for your poor behaviour.” That last part was more directed at him rather than Noah but it was enough to quieten them for the moment.

Unsurprisingly, Noah immediately ditched them once inside (“I’m going to go find people who _actually_ know how to have fun!”) and Gansey was soon caught in the throes of conversation with people who recognised him despite the mask which left Ronan 1.) alone, 2.) bored, and 3.) pissed off. Completely, utterly, and wholly pissed off. He hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, which was a partial truth, and he certainly didn’t want to be left to the wolves that were drunken, horny strangers who found the blanket of anonymity the masquerade gave them too comforting. He didn’t want to get dry humped, he didn’t want to make conversation, and most of all, he didn’t want to hurt Gansey’s feelings by making full use of the open bar because lord knows Gansey would sulk about it for weeks on end if he did, making the guilt harder for Ronan to swallow. 

So he was left there, shuffling to the nondescript beat of the music and praying to a kinder god to either kill him or kill the occupants of the party so he’d have a reason to ditch. It felt like hours passed before Gansey found him again, an unfamiliar figure wearing a pine green metal mask in tow.

“Ronan! I wanted you to meet my new friend, Adam Parrish,” Oh boy, here we go again, “Did you know he goes to Aglionby as well? He’s in your Latin class.”

If the daggers Ronan was shooting at this so-called Adam didn’t scare him off, maybe the silent treatment would do it. He pointedly ignored Adam and instead began speaking to Gansey, “I’m going home, you can continue the Aglionby circle jerk without me.”

Before Gansey had time to protest, he violently pulled himself away from the conversation - each step with more anger than the last. Ronan wasn’t sure why that interaction filled him with such rage, such… jealousy? Was it jealousy? Clearly this Adam Parrish was more clean-cut than he could ever be, maybe he’d end up being replaced once Gansey saw how well and truly fucked up Ronan was and how someone like Adam would do a better job at being a friend. Yeah, that had to be it. Jealous - of the way Gansey had placed his hand on Adam’s back, of all the stories about Straight-A Adam who’s dirt poor but smart enough to get a scholarship, of the fact he’s better than Ronan in every single way. He’d never paid much attention to the somewhat new student, never bothered introducing himself and couldn’t honestly remember if he was present the day Adam arrived. It didn’t matter anyway, Ronan didn’t need to know him to realise that as soon as Gansey figured out Adam was a better friend, a better person, prettier, smarter, everything Ronan wasn’t, he’d easily slip into the place Ronan once occupied and that would be it.

He nearly tripped over himself when he realised he was thinking about how pretty a literal stranger was - for fuck’s sake, Ronan hadn’t ever _seen_ his entire face - but it was true; Adam’s cheekbones jutted out in a way that made Ronan’s heart stutter, the green in the mask brought out the green of his eyes, and although his lips were on the thiner side, they weren’t unsightly.

Alright, that’s it - Ronan was going mad, he’d officially lost it. Guys didn’t think about guys like that, guys shouldn’t look at another guy the way a girl would. It wasn’t allowed, it didn’t make sense, it’s not how the world worked. Ronan stomped out of the venue and immediately kicked whatever was closest to him, which happened to be a potted plant. It fell over and smashed, spraying soil all over the footpath. The sight immediately filled Ronan with an annoying kind of guilt, it squirmed its way into him, and before he knew it, he was picking up the fallen plant and trying to replant it in what was left of the soil. Fuck, he needed a smoke.

To get away from the Plant Murder Scene, Ronan began making his way to the back of the building, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it on his way there. He rested up against a wall, lifting his mask off his face and taking a long drag - the rain was beginning to pick up, a clap of thunder could be heard in the distance. It was peaceful, being sheltered by the overhang of the roof, hearing the heavens cry above him. However, it didn’t help calm the storm inside of him - nothing did. He was overreacting - that much was certain - but Ronan didn’t know what the fuck to do, he felt overwhelmingly guilty for how he’d behaved but that wasn’t new (he was well versed in Catholic guilt). What was new was the nagging in the back of his mind, telling him to set it right - to go back inside, apologise for once, and try to get to know Gansey’s newest obsession.

No, that’s not right, Ronan scolded himself, Adam is a person, not an obsession. Not a new fixer upper, not the shit-show Ronan is.

Footsteps. Ronan whipped his heard around so quickly he was surprised it didn’t break off. Of course, it was Adam Parrish - the man hot on everyone’s mind. He was walking quickly, eyes downcast and eyebrows knitted in thought - his mask was missing too, though it didn’t seem he was carrying it with him.

They locked eyes.

 

————

 

Adam Parrish wasn’t interested in parties - except for connections, maybe - and he certainly wasn’t interested in themed parties. Growing up never having gone to birthday parties, trick or treating, fancy dress days at school or any other event that could warrant a costume, he found that the idea made him anxious. It reminded him too much of the fact he’d have to go out and spend money on a new outfit or show up with the excuse that he was “going as himself”.

But Blue was insistent, didn’t take no for an answer, and was hellbent on having company at her mother and her aunts’ annual masquerade. It didn’t help that Persephone had sat Adam down beforehand and gave him a plain box with a ribbon stuck on top.

“Blue will be very sad if you don’t come.” she had told him, gently.

So Adam was going, there was no backing out of the decision. But it didn’t mean he wasn’t able to hide in the kitchen with the door locked for the entire duration of the party. He almost got away with it too.

“Adam!” Blue yelled from the other side of the door, knocking furiously, “Let me in!”

As soon as he unlocked the door, she began monologuing about “some asshole with creepily white teeth” who “tried to hit on” her and when that didn’t work, have her “paid off! Like a prostitute, Adam!” so she had to threaten him with “ripping his testicles off and selling them on eBay” but even _that_ didn’t get the message through to “dumbfuck asshole dickhead” which was why Blue had to hide out in the kitchen too. It was a very colourful speech.

Adam blinked a few times, “Wow.” was all he could get out.

“Yeah - _wow_ \- what an asshole right?”

“If you need me to chaperone you to make sure he doesn’t bother you again, I can do that.” he offered, despite the fact Adam really, really didn’t want to go out and… mingle.

Blue snorted, “It’s fine, Mr. Introvert. You don’t need to, I’ll happily make good on my promise to rip his testes off if he finds me.”

“Yeah, I don’t doubt that.” Adam said, letting out a laugh, “I’ll be the first to bid on them once you put them up for sale.”

Soon enough, Blue started talking about something or other - Adam wasn’t really paying attention, he’d drifted off into thought. It was difficult, he’d only made the transition from being certified trailer trash to living by himself - it had to be done, he was painfully aware of it - but the bills were piling up. He felt like he was treading water. Not only was he busy paying off the last of his hospital bills but his rent was due soon, so were his tuition fees, and if he made one wrong move, he was going to drown. Adam started to absentmindedly bite his lip - it was hard. Overwhelmingly hard.

Blue waved a hand in front of his face, “Adam? Earth to Adam? Is anyone there?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here, I’m here.” he pushed her hand away, “What were you saying?”

She frowned, “I was asking if you were alright - you’re, like, a million miles away tonight.”

Adam sighed, nudging her foot a bit, “I’m alright…” He had to think of what to say next. Even though they’d made the pact to not keep things from each other, it was hardwired into him to not let people feel sorry for him, never talk about his hardships, don’t let anyone see him struggle. “I’m just not feeling it. I’m not good with parties, Blue.”

“It sounds like _you_ need _me_ to chaperone. C’mon, we can sit at the top of the stairs and I can tell you which clients smell like dog farts.” There was no denying Blue, so he didn’t resist it when she grabbed him by the hand and barrelled out of the kitchen and towards the staircase.

However, any plans were shelved once the two of them ran into “dumbfuck asshole dickhead” and Blue hissed at him. “ _You!_ ”

“Me?” Mr. Dickhead said.

“Yes, you! Didn’t I tell you to get the hell out of my house?”

Mr. Dickhead’s eyebrows nearly shot off his forehead, “I must apologise, I wasn’t aware you were the hostess. Please, forgive my ignorance.”

Adam knew who Mr. Dickhead was - Blue did a pretty good job diving his name for someone who wasn’t psychic - and it seemed like Mr. Dickhead knew who Adam was too.

“Ah! You’re Adam Parrish, correct? I haven’t had the time to make your acquaintance. I’m Gansey, it’s a pleasure to meet the two of you.” he said, extending his hand towards Adam.

“Oh, so the lady doesn’t get a handshake? Only a cash deal to forgive you?” Blue sneered, “That’s so typically Aglionby. Adam, I’m going - I don’t think I can stand the sight of this asshole anymore.”

And with that, she was off. It all happened so quickly that Adam was really sure whether or not he should go follow Blue.

“I’m - ah - I’m sorry for offending your friend, it wasn’t my intention to.” Gansey said sheepishly, “You can go, if you want to.” He had pulled his hand back by then.

“No, it’s alright.” There was a brief lull in the conversation, whatever bravado Gansey had been wearing before was now gone and what was left standing in front of Adam was an awkward boy who didn’t know what to say next.

“Right - so, do you know Ronan Lynch and Noah Czerny? I’m here with them tonight, shall I introduce you?”

So that was what this was about, Adam thought bitterly - Gansey was going to introduce him to his buddies, they’d laugh at him or poke fun at his background, and then run off to do more important things than talk to the town’s charity case. What a classic, one that Adam was all too familiar with. Every fibre of his being wanted to tell him no, thank you, I’m not going to be set up to fail again, and then go back to the safety of the kitchen and ride out the rest of this night in peace.

But he didn’t say any of that - he politely nodded, said “yes, please, thank you”, and followed Gansey to wherever his buddies were. The pit at the bottom of Adam’s stomach told him he was an idiot for falling for this again but somehow, he wanted to be proven wrong. Wanted to belong somewhere. Wanted proof that not everyone was there to humiliate him.

“Ronan!” Gansey yelled, waving excitedly with one hand and guiding Adam with the other, “I wanted you to meet my new friend, Adam Parrish. Did you know he goes to Aglionby as well? He’s in your Latin class.”

It seems that when Gansey mentioned that, Ronan immediately turned ice cold. The fact he was wearing such an imposing mask didn’t help lighten things up either, Adam felt like he could almost shrink under his gaze.

Ronan allowed the silence to linger for a few extra beats, crushing any hopes of conversation. “I’m going home, you can continue the Aglionby circle jerk without me.” He gritted out and then stormed off in a manner not unlike a child throwing a tantrum. In any other circumstance, it’d be funny.

“I’m so incredibly sorry about him,” Gansey said, removing his hand from Adam’s back, “If I knew he was going to behave that way, I wouldn’t have introduced the two of you. He’s - He’s a bit of a character, I’m sure you’ve heard rumours and whatnot.” It was around then that Adam began tuning out, he didn’t really need to hear poorly made excuses.

What had likely happened was Ronan recognised that Adam Parrish was _that_ Adam Parrish, the Adam Parrish that had transferred from the local public school half deaf because his father hadn’t taken kindly to his plans to study at Aglionby. It bothered him more than it should have - he wasn’t able to change the past, he wasn’t capable of changing the circumstances he was born into, he couldn’t change _anything_ about his background. It was just the way it was.

“Adam?”

He opened his mouth a few times, trying to think of what to say. “Sorry, I couldn’t hear you over the music - it’s a little loud.”

And all was right again.

Gansey waved it off, “That’s fine, shall we find someplace more quiet?”

“Actually - I think I have to get some air,” Adam didn’t want to be in here, he felt like the world was closing in on him, everyone was staring at him.

Before Gansey was able to say anything else, Adam walked off, tearing his mask off in the process - he was aware that wouldn’t help, knew it wasn’t going to stop like his lungs were exploding - and then made his way out the front door. In the back of his mind, Adam felt guilty for leaving Blue alone in there but at the moment, getting out of there was his top priority.

The first gasp of air shocked him awake, the second brought down a crashing wave of relief. No, he wasn’t dying. No, nobody was judging him. Anyone who did look at him probably thought he’d had too much to drink, not that he had been seconds away from a panic attack. It was fine. He was fine.

There was something broken next to his foot - Adam crouched down to get a better look at it. The plant didn’t seem to be damaged but there were bits and pieces missing from the pot and soil strewn across the ground - he laughed silently to himself, it reminded him of himself. It was going to be fine.

Where he was currently was still too crowded for his liking, Adam was aware of the garden around the back of the house - there was a slim chance of anyone being there with Maura and Calla keeping people entertained in the house. As he walked, different thoughts flittered through his head - most of them were about money, what he was going to do to keep up with the oncoming expenses, but some of them were about Gansey and Gansey’s cold friend, Ronan.

It was only natural Adam had heard things about Ronan - Raven Boys were assholes first and foremost, and gossipers second - and from what he’d seen, Ronan did seem to fit the description. Tall, imposing, rude. There was something about Ronan’s prickly nature that made Adam want to know more but it didn’t outweigh his self-preserving nature - he knew trouble when he saw it and there was no doubt that warning signs were plastered everywhere Ronan went. However, knowing this was different than adhering to it - Adam had been well aware he shouldn’t have even talked to Gansey for more than a minute yet Adam had still entertained him and his hopeless effort to integrate Adam into some… sort of friend group.

There was no use getting too deep into his thoughts, Adam kicked a loose pebble on the ground and finally started to feel the rain soak into his hair. Taking a deep breath, he looked up.

Ronan was there.

He felt seen.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The more he looked at Adam, the more he felt. From his almond shaped eyes to his elongated fingers (delicate, fine, gentle, yet worn and calloused from life), he was perfect. Ronan never considered himself a romantic, never a poet nor a story teller, but looking at Adam made him want to write pages upon pages about what he was seeing, what he was feeling. It was hard, in that moment, to push down those feelings. It wasn’t like Ronan could put this fragile conversation on hold and quickly run off to the confessional (what would he even say? “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned in all the gayest ways possible”?). Instead, Ronan continued to look - to etch Adam’s features in his mind - so that when he was wallowing in guilt and shame and self-hatred later, at least he had a pretty face to remember.

Adam let out a deep sigh and began to turn away before Ronan grabbed his shoulder.

“Don’t,” Ronan said, “I’m just about to leave, you can… stay here if you want.”

It wasn’t a surprise Adam almost immediately shrugged the hand off of himself, his lips pulled down into a frown. “Thanks,” he said, dryly, “I don’t know what I’d do without your kindness.” That part was entirely sarcastic.

Ronan shoved his hands into his pockets, no matter what he did he couldn’t seem to look away from the boy standing in front of him. What he thought was jealously began welling inside of him again, it felt suffocating, like he was trying to fight down bile.

“What the fuck’s wrong with you?” Ronan sneered, “I’m trying to be fucking polite.”

Adam scoffed, “ _Polite?_ Like how you were earlier?” To which Ronan replied by letting out a few more profanities and the beginning of a protest that was cut off, “I’m not going to kick you out, it’s fine, but just… leave me the fuck alone.”

When Adam said that, his expression seemed to wither - the tired look he’d worn earlier had returned and exhaustion was apparent under his eyes. It made Ronan feel shittier than he had been earlier; he knew he had been a dick, a massive asshole for no reason and Adam had every right to be angry with him but he felt stuck in quicksand, like he didn’t want to be in Adam’s bad books.

“Fuck, fine,” Ronan said, he looked downwards, feeling shame start to sink in, “I’m sorry for being an ass - I don’t know you, you don’t deserve that shit.”

There was no reply to that but he didn’t necessarily mind, Ronan didn’t say it to earn a response - to earn forgiveness. The two of them stood by each other, the thunderous backdrop kept silence at bay, and eventually Adam sighed again, going to sit down where there was the most shelter from the rain. His hair was sticking to his forehead, the new suit he’d bought specifically for the occasion was soaked through but Adam couldn’t find it within himself to care - it was just another nail in the coffin. It took a while to realise hot tears were streaking his face and a few moments longer to realise Ronan had sat down next to him, sending worried glances his way every few seconds. The absurdity of the situation wasn’t lost on Adam, it felt like the start of a stupid romcom.

“Uh, are you alright?” Ronan finally asked, craning his neck to try to get a better look at Adam.

There was no use wiping away the tears - Adam just nodded and rested his head against the wall, “I’m fine.”

“That’s not very convincing.”

“Jesus - I’m fine, alright? There’s a lot on my plate right now.”

“My name’s not Jesus, you know.” Ronan couldn’t resist cracking that joke, it was such a low hanging fruit, “Sorry, that was a bad one. Did you come out here to escape Dick’s clutches?”

Adam shot Ronan a sideways glance - things were moving fast and he was getting whiplash from it. First, Ronan hadn’t even wanted to give him the time of day, then they’d got into what could be considered a short argument, and now they were cracking jokes? At the very least, it was a nice distraction from the plethora of problems plaguing Adam’s life currently.

He wiped away the stray tears before answering, “He does kinda grab onto you, doesn’t he?” Adam quickly went to correct himself, he wasn’t going to be caught badmouthing a person he hardly knew, “Not that that’s a bad thing but I wasn’t expecting Gansey to… drag me around, trying to introduce me to people.”

Ronan let out a short, bitey laugh. “Yeah, that sounds like him. If he likes the look of you, he’ll never let go.”

“You’re talking from experience?”

“Pfft, yeah - he hounded me for a week before I finally gave up.” Ronan stared intently at Adam - he tried his best to school his face, his heart, to make sure it didn’t betray the whirlwind of emotions Ronan had inside himself, “I think he almost cried when I told him to fuck off the first time he tried sitting next to me at lunch.”

The more he looked at Adam, the more he felt. From his almond shaped eyes to his elongated fingers (delicate, fine, gentle, yet worn and calloused from life), he was perfect. Ronan never considered himself a romantic, never a poet nor a story teller, but looking at Adam made him want to write pages upon pages about what he was seeing, what he was feeling. It was hard, in that moment, to push down those feelings. It wasn’t like Ronan could put this fragile conversation on hold and quickly run off to the confessional (what would he even say? “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned in all the gayest ways possible”?). Instead, Ronan continued to look - to etch Adam’s features in his mind - so that when he was wallowing in guilt and shame and self-hatred later, at least he had a pretty face to remember. 

However, the only problem with that plan was that he’d just missed what Adam was saying and that was something he hadn’t meant to do.

“You’re going to hate me but - uh - could you repeat that?”

Adam rolled his eyes, “Wow, Lynch, you’re really an ace at conversations. You deserve an award.”

“Oh, so I’m Lynch now? You wound me, Parrish.”

“You’re really weird, did you know that?” Adam said, turning away to look out into the darkness again, “You stormed off when you first met me and now you’re all buddy-buddy with me, it’s like you’ve got a doppelgänger.”

“Maybe I do, maybe that’s why I’m talking to you.” Ronan didn’t bother being hurt by Adam’s statement, it was true he’d been a real A-Class douche, “I need Aglionby’s best and brightest to help me find my doppelgänger and bring him to justice.”

“Hm, actually,I think you’re more of a Jekyll and Hyde case but I don’t know who’s who.” Adam was looking at him again, no longer feigning disinterest.

“Don’t be fucking rude - I wouldn’t be either of those wankers.” Ronan said, hand placed over his heart as if he’d just been shot, “If anything, you’re nerdy Jekyll and now I gotta shield my eyes lest you decide to fuckin’ slam a potion and scar me for life.” He poked Adam in the side.

Adam’s laugh was beautiful - it felt like silk on your skin, cream in your coffee, everything delicious saved for the rarest of occasions - and Ronan was pleased he was able to elicit such a response. As soon as Adam realised he was laughing, he reigned himself in and returned to the conversation at hand, “Seeing as you skip school so much, I’m surprised you did the reading for the term. Ms Smith doesn’t read out your name when she takes attendance, anymore.”

School was a sour topic, it was one Ronan tried to ignore in all aspects of his life. Begrudgingly, he allowed himself to dwell on it for the sole purpose of finding out more about Adam’s schedule, “Gansey mentioned you’re in Latin with me, why haven’t I seen you?”

“I sit in the front, probably not your usual haunting.” Adam said, waving the question off.

“Huh.” Ronan thought it was weird he hadn’t taken notice of Adam, he mentally ran through the seating positions of the class until it clicked, “You’re that fucker who always corrects me, aren’t you? Jesus Christ, I should’ve known.”

The second time Adam laughed, it felt like coming home and Ronan couldn’t help laughing along with him - “I was waiting for the penny to drop.”

After the laughter had dissipated, they were left looking at each other - the world around them had faded away - and Adam’s heart was stuck in his throat. Maybe it was the exhaustion that was creeping in due to the fact he’d cycled through every emotion known under the sun in the past hour but something burned within himself when he saw the brief spurts of light from the lightning dancing on Ronan’s face, the ice burning beneath his gaze, the soft outline of a smile that contradicted the blaring warning signs. A hand brushed gently against Adam’s; the brief touch echoed through his mind. _More_ , it said.

Before either of them could say anything, Noah found them. A broken nose was smearing the glitter that had been carefully applied just a while ago with a generous gush of blood.

“Oh! Ronan, we have to go.” Noah stated without a care in the world, grabbing Ronan by the arm and shooting a smile at Adam. “You’ve made a new friend! I’d stay to introduce myself but we really gotta get going, Gansey might get caught in the scuffle if we don’t.”

Every single atom in his body repelled against the idea of leaving, of moving away from Adam - there was too much that hadn’t been said and too much that had to be said to just walk away from him. But shock rendered both of them useless, Noah had appeared like an innocent hurricane and they were moving away from the eye of the storm into the overwhelming winds. Ronan registered an aborted goodbye as he was being dragged - the way Noah’s fingernails dug into his arm gave away his underlying panic.

When they passed around the entrance of the 300 Fox Way, Ronan noticed Adam’s missing mask laying discarded next to the plant he’d previously kicked over. He managed to loosen Noah’s grip and snag it before being taken away to where the car was parked.

 

————

 

It wasn’t until it was too late that Adam realised that who he assumed was Noah Czerny had shown up and taken Ronan away from him. The entire night had progressed at a speed too fast yet painfully slow; his mind was still caught in the conversation he’d been having with Ronan but his body was picking himself off the ground, taking the raven’s mask that was laying where Ronan had just been sitting, and walking back to the party in hopes of finding Blue. Turning the mask over in his hands, Adam let his mind wander - the storm was dispersing and it seemed as if the party was too; guests clambered out of the front doors, whispering about the apparent fight that had started and ending all too quickly. It was obvious this fight was the “scuffle” Noah had referred to - Adam wasn’t interested in trouble, he tuned the conversations out and focused on trying to find Blue to make sure both she and her family hadn’t been caught up in it.

Thankfully, Adam found her rather quickly - the women of Fox Way where gathered around in the kitchen, so deep in discussion they didn’t registered the few knocks on the door he did before entering. Upon realising he was in the room, they immediately stopped talking; Persephone broke the silence.

“You’ll have to learn to communicate to survive this, I hope you won’t forget that.” she sighed, walking over to clasp Adam’s hands gently before leaving the room.

Receiving ominous words of wisdom from her wasn’t anything unusual, it had happened too many times to count on both hands, but those words echoed in Adam’s head in a way they hadn’t before. Before he could pick them apart and put them together again, Blue touched his shoulder, drawing him to the present.

“I couldn’t find you anywhere! I was worried that asshole kidnapped you,” she joked - the chatter filled the room once again - “You completely missed the fight. It was a stupid raven boy feud, they ruined the whole night.”

Adam was more than happy for Blue to continue talking idly, filling him in on the dramatic rendition of what he’d missed. It allowed for him to relive the night, dissecting every second of every minute and piecing it together in different sequences so he was able to grasp the intricacies of the bizarre experience he’d lived through. However, it left him exhausted beyond his years and by the time Blue had settled into a comfortable silence, Adam couldn’t find it within himself to continue staying awake. Discreetly, he glanced at his watch - it was only 12:06, a somewhat reasonable time considering his age, and he decided to gather himself and his thoughts and make his way back home. Goodbyes were brief, hugs were shared, sleep was made.

The words Persephone had left him with played on a loop as Adam drove himself to the attic of St. Agnes Catholic Church that he called home. He wasn’t a stranger to the supernatural and even the most mundane of people could tell that a dramatic shift had occurred; the night had changed Adam in a way he couldn’t yet explain, so he held onto that knowledge as he laid his head down and he stared at the raven mask that temporarily lived on his desk and he thought of Ronan’s hands, Ronan’s eyes, Ronan’s words, Ronan, Ronan, Ronan.

 

————

 

For the second time that night, one of them was returning to Monmouth with an injury. Despite this, the mood was rather jovial. Noah was cheerfully reenacting how the fight went; full of air punches and strangely high pitched groans.

“And then _Barry_ was like ‘ugh, my itsy bitsy ego’,” Noah imitated, “‘I can’t win without my ridiculous gun that I don’t even _hold_ properly.’”

While Gansey was usually vehemently against violence, he laughed a bit at that statement. “He does hold it oddly, doesn’t he? I doubt he’s ever fired it.”

“You think he jacks off like that? He’d probably get carpal tunnel.”

As the two of them continued joking, Ronan was deep inside his thoughts. The whole world melted away as he thought about Adam; he was the sun and Ronan was caught in his orbit. It was strange, Ronan considered _feelings_ a threat - they were always quick to overwhelm and envelope him - and romantic feelings more so. His parents had died too soon to tell him his type of love wasn’t a sin. It was a constant uphill battle and now that he had a glimpse at what love can be, Ronan was falling backwards fast. He thumbed the green mask in his hands, trying to imagine what it’d feel like to hold Adam. “Gansey, where’s your diary?”

“Ha ha, very funny - what, do you want to see my entries on how my date went with Glendower?” Gansey said, rolling his eyes. “I’ll spare you the details, he paid and we decided to avoid premarital sex.”

In any other circumstance, Ronan would’ve had a field day with what Gansey had just said but there were more pressing matters at hand. “No, like, your school diary. I need to see your schedule.”

Gansey’s eyes lit up for a second but it was quickly replaced with suspicion, “Are you planning on doing something that’ll get you expelled?”

“I wish. No, it’s for something else.”

Reluctantly, Gansey searched his school bag that was discarded near the door and held it away from Ronan. “Do you promise you aren’t going to get yourself in trouble with this?”

“Yes, dad. I pinky promise.” Ronan said as he snatched the diary and left for the privacy of his room.

Silence followed for a few beats but as Ronan locked his door, he could hear hushed chatter. As long as they didn’t try to pry information out of him, he’d be fine. Ronan pulled out his laptop and logged into the school portal; he had lost his own schedule a long time ago but he knew Gansey had used his influence to land himself in most of Ronan’s classes to keep an eye on him. Seeing the Aglionby logo on the front of the page was enough to make him break out in hives but if he was going to see Adam again, he had to endure this self inflicted pain. Scanning the attendance lists and comparing it with the schedule, he eventually narrowed down the classes Ronan was willing to bear to see him. Unfortunately, they shared Literature that was at the ungodly time of 8:20 in the god damn AM. Closing his eyes, Ronan thought hard about what he was committing to. Anybody that had talked to Ronan for more than two seconds knew that his main goal was to avoid school as if it was the black plague. Willingly going into the place he hated with a burning fury all to see a _boy_ who he had known for about ten minutes sounded nuts. It was nuts.

Absentmindedly, Ronan chewed on the leather bands around his wrist and touched Adam’s mask again. He knew what he had to do. At this point, it didn’t even matter if Adam didn’t return his very confused feelings - in fact, Ronan was expecting him not to - but there was a desperate need to see him again. He shut the laptop. Grabbing Gansey’s diary and his car keys, he exited the room. Ronan yelled as he threw the diary at him, “I’m out, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Ronan, wait —”

Before Gansey could finish the sentence, Ronan was slamming the front door behind him and getting into the car. He needed to be alone, he needed guidance. Even if Ronan believed God had given up on him a long time ago, church brought him a sense of comfort. It never hurt trying.

 

————

 

The next day arrived unceremoniously - the birds that lived somewhere in the building woke Adam up before his alarm or the sun could. It was these precious few moments that he cultivated, a solitude that wasn’t lonely but comforting. Adam knew that if he didn’t get out of bed now, he wouldn’t be able to, so began his day unceremoniously. After a night like last night, he’d expected something to have changed - no, that was wrong, something had changed but Adam had expected to see a substantial difference. So far, there was no evidence that last night had even happened other than the mask and his suit strewn across his desk. The knowledge that there’d been a shift in the alignment of things but nothing to show for it unsettled him deeply, so he continued to busy himself with getting prepared to face the quiet hostility of school.

Usually, Adam would get ready, leave, and pay no mind to the main entrance of the church as he pulled out of the driveway but today, there was an unfamiliar tug that brought him away from his poorly put together car and towards the oak doors of St. Agnes. From the corner of his eye, Adam could see a hastily parked BMW - while he was used to seeing people pour into the church, it was unusual for someone to be there at this hour. What he saw when he pushed open the doors was nothing he could’ve expected; Ronan was there, laying carelessly on the altar. Adam wasn’t a religious person - he never would be - but he knew that this act must be considered blasphemous, somehow. It wasn’t readily apparent whether Ronan was asleep or merely waiting for someone who mattered in his religion to find him there and scold him, so Adam decided to take a look for himself.

He was the image of peace, his dark eyelashes kissed his cheeks. Adam took this sight in - it felt strangely intimate, like he’d walked in on something so private it was a crime to watch but simultaneously, he was the intended viewer. It took a moment for him to realise Ronan was staring up at him, his warm hazel eyes taking Adam in the same way he had done so seconds before. “Hey, didn’t expect to see you here.”

Adam cleared his throat and took a step back, allowing Ronan to swing himself off the altar. “Uh, yeah, I live upstairs.”

“Come on, I’ll drive you. We’ve got literature this morning.” Ronan jingled his car keys as he said it - no “no”s were to be exchanged, that much was clear.

The way he’d simply demanded to drive him to school grated on Adam’s nerves. After the initial stun had worn off, he began walking after Ronan; who did he think he was, showing up where Adam lived, trying to shove charity down his throat after they’d barely spoken? Doubt was bubbling up. Maybe he’d been right, this was a rouse to humiliate him.

“I’m capable of taking myself to school,” Adam hissed once he’d caught up, the oak doors behind them slamming, “I don’t even know you. I don’t need debt.”

“Debt? It’s a fucking drive, I’m not asking for an IOU.”

Rather than dignify that answer with a response, Adam made his way across the gravel and got into his car - Ronan watched expectantly as the car failed to start a few times but his expression fell as Adam eventually pulled out of the parking lot.

 

————

 

That wasn’t how that was supposed to go. Ronan cursed softly, leaning on his car and resting his head against it. It felt like God had placed Adam within his reach, tantalisingly so, but he’d managed to fuck it up. Ronan looked at his watch. There was still time to bail on class but something was pulling at him to go. Despite the fatigue resting behind his eyes, Ronan wasn’t one to give up. 

 

————

 

Aglionby Academy for Boys was made for the Ganseys of the world, not the Noahs nor the Ronans; though, they fit in there to a certain extent. Whelks - no, not the snail - were the mid-ground between a Noah and a Gansey. They were a breed of anarchy intertwined with capitalism which was to say, they broke the rules their parents enforced but not enough to miss out on their weekly allowance nor make much of a difference. Ronans were a rarity. A true ground breaker. A loud and ferocious disdain for authority, a little bit of an affinity to all things fast and dangerous, and a soft spot for anything vulnerable and as much as a ground breaker as them.

When Ronan arrived, necks twisted at speeds that should break them; that was enough to remind him of why he fucking hated school. Gossip, gossip, gossip - it was never enough for those leeches. However, Gansey was delighted and Noah more so, even with their respective injuries. There was a lot to talk about after last night after all.

“Do my eyes deceive me? My saucy boy has arrived!” Noah called out, rushing in to give Ronan a hug.

“Jesus fuck, ‘saucy boy’?” Ronan said, horrified, as he dodged Noah’s arms. “I don’t even wanna know what that means.”

Gansey laughed, draping an arm around Ronan’s shoulders - this was met with no complaints. “Well, you better if you’re thinking of showing up to class. We have to preform Romeo and Juliet today!”

This was the type of class activity made for Ganseys who had a romantic streak and were in love with centuries old dead guys. It must’ve been divine punishment that Ronan turned up on today of all days - it’d be the talk of the town.

“Ugh, I’m going back to the house.”

Noah gasped, grabbing onto Ronan’s arm. “No, no you’re not! You have to be the Romeo to my Mercutio.”

He bristled at those words, it felt like Noah knew too much sometimes. Trying to keep the two of them off his tracks, Ronan faked a dry-heave. “I’m allergic to love, sorry.”

“But you are coming to class, right?” Gansey asked, though he tried to cover up the hope in his voice, it slipped through. It was enough to make Ronan want to hide away in his room forever.

“Yeah, yeah, I am.” Ronan looked down to the ground, “Don’t expect too much, though.”

 

————

 

Nerves were eating Adam from the inside out. The conversation he’d shared with Ronan kept haunting him, even as he took his seat. However, no guilt would be found here. Adam had done what he had to, he wasn’t going to apologise for looking after himself. It didn’t make seeing Ronan enter the classroom any better, though; his tie was loosened and the first two buttons on his shirt undone which allowed Adam a peek at the undershirt he wore. He looked utterly decadent.

Their eyes found each other again - the world stopped for them. Adam hoped desperately that Ronan would sit in the empty seat next to him. It was ridiculous, he knew that, but he wanted the sanctity of the closeness they shared that morning.

But Ronan didn’t read minds. He was blissfully unaware of the storm raging inside Adam’s head and took his usual seat at the back of the classroom. Gansey, on the other hand, gave him a polite wave and took the empty seat. It took him a while to recognise the fact Gansey was talking to him, it took him a beat longer to realise it was because Gansey was seated to his left.

“Ah, can we switch seats?” Adam asked, he felt his face heating up, “I’m deaf in my left ear. I can’t hear you.”

Whatever reaction he had expected Gansey to have didn’t come - instead, he gathered his things and got up, “Of course! Of course, that’s perfectly fine.”

“Thank you,” Adam whispered as the door to the classroom let out a telltale creak - he was sure that if it weren’t for the teacher entering, Gansey would’ve continued rattling on.

The beginning of the lesson was monotonous and it took all of his willpower not to turn in his seat to try to catch a glimpse of Ronan. There was no way to do this subtly as the class only held a total of fifteen students. A tap on his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts. Gansey had slid a note to him.

 _Do you want to join us for lunch today?_ it wrote. Adam made quick work responding.

‘ _Us’?_

_Myself, Noah and Ronan. I need some help with translating the text._

_Ok_

“Richard Gansey and Adam Parrish, you can either share your discussion with all of us or continue it after class.” Their teacher, Mr Davidson, interrupted. “Anyway, we’re going to start with the practical exercise now.”

He began handing out sheets that listed their roles; Adam scanned the page for his name and felt dread settle in as he saw he’d somehow landed Romeo, of all characters. He ignored his discomfort and began looking for Ronan’s name.

_Ronan Lynch - Juliet Capulet_

The world must’ve been pulling a cruel joke. Adam was well aware of his own internal conflict - anyone could see Ronan was handsome - but a private, religious boys school was the last place you wanted someone to piece together you might not be the cookie-cutter type. It filled him with a visceral fear.

“Ronan,” Gansey practically announced his arrival; he sat down next to Gansey and placed his feet on the desk. “I’m surprised you didn’t get Tybalt. You seemed about ready to stab Noah this morning.”

“I wish.” Ronan said and turned in his seat to stare directly at Adam,“It seems we’re going to be partners for the entire fucking term.”

While there was no venom in his voice, Gansey flickered his gaze back and forth between the two nervously.

“It seems so.” Adam replied, tapping his pencil on the desk. He couldn’t risk meeting Ronan’s eyes - it felt like every time he did, he was being slowly unraveled.

To break the tension, Gansey cleared his throat. “Adam will be joining me for lunch today. I hope you’ll be joining us as well, Ronan.”

“I was planning on fucking off after Latin,” Ronan said, rocking back on his chair. “I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

Adam could sense that Ronan had carefully constructed his blasé attitude. There was a nervous edge to his words; it was clear he was concealing something. Before Adam had the chance to decipher what that was, their teacher interrupted again. Gansey and a few others were called to the front which left Ronan and Adam alone.

“Mr. Richard Campbell Gansey bothering you again?” Ronan joked, moving into the now vacant seat next to Adam. “I’m away for five minutes and he’s already invited you to a _date._ ”

The way Ronan said that last word was full of malice. It momentarily hurt Adam before he pieced it together. Jealously. Of who, Adam wasn’t sure. “I think he was trying to set me up on a blind date, actually.”

“Never pegged him as the matchmaking type.” Before Adam had a chance to reply, Ronan changed the subject abruptly. “Why’d you freak out this morning?”

“I don’t like handouts.”

Ronan scoffed, “It wasn’t a _handout,_ I was trying to save you some time.”

Adam shot him a pointed look, “I don’t like handouts.”

“If I came over to your place tonight to practice lines, would it be a handout?” Ronan gave him a small, private smile before catching a glimpse at the teacher and burying his head in his copy of Romeo & Juliet.

“I’ll have to check in with my book of morals. I’ll have an answer by - lets see - the end of class.” He had to drop his voice to a whisper to avoid the wrath of Mr. Whatshisname.

Clearing his throat, Ronan made a poor attempt at imitating every preppy girl that exists in a YA movie. “I take thee by your word, pilgrim.”

Adam had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing, “Sorry, I didn’t quite get that - could you say it again?”

“If who-know-who do see thee, they will murder thee, young Parrish.” Ronan’s voice cracked horribly when he said ‘Parrish’ and it was enough to surprise Adam into snorting - he quickly covered his mouth, shaking silently with laughter. “Quiet now or else Mr. Fucknuts may hear thee,”

 

————

 

For the first time in a long while, Ronan _enjoyed_ school - it wasn’t the usual disdain thinly veiled with tolerance to make Gansey happy, he actually looked forward to his classes. Due to this, the whole day passed quickly and by the end of it, Ronan was walking with his arm draped over Adam’s shoulders. It was something that made his heart race and his stomach flip upside down. It felt dangerous. Secret. Overwhelming.

They parted soon enough but Ronan still felt him all along his arm.

“Gansey will have my head if I don’t show my face so I’ll be there when I’ll be there.”

Adam leaned on his what-can-be-barely-considered-a-car and tossed the keys around in his hands, “This isn’t a joke, right?”

“What? No?” It was a confusing question and the way Adam had shut off his expression, shut Ronan out, made it even more so.

“You’re not going to ditch me or come with your friends and throw eggs at my window? This is just a giant _prank_ on me?” He was becoming increasingly more agitated; Adam’s anger was just there to cover up the deep hurt those words carried.

Ronan had to let the words sink in. “Jesus fuck - no, I wouldn’t do that shit to you.” He answered, registering the relief that washed over Adam. “I don’t understand anything Willy Shakes fucking wrote, you know just about _everything,_ why wouldn’t I get you to do all my homework?”

“Oh, fuck you.” There was no bite, though.

“I’ll be there at six-ish, okay?”

 

_————_

 

It was more like 7:50 when Ronan finally appeared. Late enough that Adam had given up on the hope of seeing him but early enough he hadn’t gone to his night-shift at the local convenience store. There was a light, consistent tapping on his window that went on for about five minutes before a larger than average stone hit with a huge _thunk_ and a few muffled swear words could be heard from down below. Adam went to the window and opened it - the moonlight illuminated a frustrated but incredibly handsome-looking Ronan staring up expectantly.

“Romeo, Romeo, why are you Romeo? Deny thy name and release thy father, or whatever.” He shouted, “Let me the fuck up, asshole!”

Adam was thankful nobody was around at this time of night as he laughed at Ronan’s antics. “No, you have to recite it correctly. You’re the one who wanted to study.”

“Fuck you, let me up or I’m gonna start - I’m gonna start honking!”

In response, he shut his window and allowed Ronan to slam on the car-horn for a good minute before running downstairs to open up the door. “Alright, alright, stop - you can probably hear that from the city.”

“Fucking finally, I was planning on driving into the building next.” Ronan shut the car door and went around the back to pick up a particularly chunky backpack. “Show me the way, ye old-e asshole.”

“That’s not how ‘ye’ works,” Adam said which earned him the frankly adorable sight of Ronan sticking out his tongue.

“Oh, my sincerest apologies, I don’t speak nerd.”

Despite what it looked from the outside, the apartment was rather spacious. There were hardly any belongings; a makeshift desk and an upturned wastebasket serving as a chair were shoved into the corner while Adam’s bed was pushed to the other side of the room. The mask he had forgotten last night was sat innocently on the desk. Ronan diverted his gaze and caught sight of a suitcase that contained what seemed to be all of Adam’s clothes with an Aglionby backpack placed on top. “I’ve got work in twenty, you’ll have to leave then.”

Ronan nodded absentmindedly as he continued to catalogue the apartment, “Yeah, sure, whatever.”

“No, not ‘whatever’. If you want to study, we have to do it now.”

“Uh, we’re not studying.” He said as he opened up the backpack and flourished a heavy cassette deck. “It’s a housewarming gift.”

Adam felt all the fight rush out of him, he was too exhausted to deal with this. “Ronan, I told you - I don’t _want_ handouts.”

“Fine, it’s mine and I’ll bring it over whenever I visit.”

While better, it still wasn’t what Adam wanted to hear. Then, it clicked that this was Ronan’s way of inviting himself back - it wasn’t a gift, it was a thoughtfully planned way of continuing their friendship. He changed the subject before he could read too far into the gesture, “Where did you even manage to find that?”

“Gansey.” He answered, placing the deck on the psychology book laid open on the desk. “He owns a typewriter, for Christ’s sake. He knows every shop in the world that caters exclusively to hipsters.”

Before Adam was able to answer, Ronan pressed play and the beginning of a god awful song that sounded like the musical equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard began to fill the air. “ _Squash one, squash two,”_ It cried out as a shit eating grin spread across Ronan’s face.

“What in the whole hell is that?” He yelled over the noise, covering up his ear in protest.

“Music, Parrish - it’s music!” Ronan replied before beginning to sing along - though, he could barely hear him over the horrible melody.

“Ugh, turn it off! It’s hideous,” Adam said as he dove towards the deck, ignoring all of Ronan’s protests. _Finally,_ the air was filled with silence again. “Whatever the hell that was, it sure as shit wasn’t music.”

“It sure as shit was!” He retorted, “In order for your friend application to be approved, you have to pass the initiation that is the Murder Squash Song.”

“I wasn’t aware there was a method to your madness,” Adam said as he cleared off some space on his overcrowded desk and took a seat on it, “I’d prefer a warning next time, thanks.”

In the back of his mind, Adam was aware time was running out; he took a peek at his watch and sighed. Being around Ronan made time go twice as fast and twice as slow at the same time. It felt like they’d just spent a decade together in his apartment yet it wasn’t _long_ enough. He wanted to stay in this moment forever. “Listen, I really need to get ready.”

“Fuck yeah you do, I could smell your pits from a mile away.”

Adam shot him a withering look, “Is it too late to revoke my application?”

“Yep. Better get used to it, nerd.”

“Alright, anyway - can we catch up tomorrow afternoon and attempt studying?” He asked sincerely. While there had been unsaid invitations, verbalising this was difficult for Adam. It made him feel vulnerable, _open._

“I can’t promise that any studying will be involved but yeah, whatever.” It was entirely obvious that Ronan was feigning nonchalance but neither of them mentioned it. “I’ll try to be earlier.”

Adam hopped down from his desk and picked up the raven mask, dumping it on Ronan’s lap. “I’ll see you then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so, Ronan and Adam are both going to be playing Romeo and Juliet in this au. It was too difficult to decide who was who, especially when it comes to the events that are gonna play out later. Ig this is what being a verse means. 
> 
> I've also tried my best to sort of... fit in communication? It's so difficult with these two omg but such an important part of r&j is communicating. Like the whole reason they work is because they actually talk to each other while Paris and Juliet never speak to each other. But I suppose thats why theres a lot of different love languages! 
> 
> Anyway...... things will begin to pick up in the next chapter which hopefully won't take a month to write and edit. If theres any mistakes in this, let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sighing, he looked down at Ronan. School was in an hour; he had let him sleep for as long as possible but at this stage, Adam really, really needed the bathroom. “Hey, get off - we gotta get ready.” He said, shaking him lightly.
> 
> “Fuck off,” Grumbling, Ronan tugged him closer. “It’s too early.”
> 
> He placed a hand on the side of Ronan’s face, waited until his eyes fluttered open to see what Adam was doing, and then breathed directly onto his face. It was enough to get Ronan to immediately release him and scramble away. “You are so fucking gross.” He complained, “Your morning breath could poison a small mammal.”

 

Life after their fateful meeting was relatively mundane. Everyone (i.e. Gansey and Noah) were convinced they hated each other, which was frankly quite strange because it was the very opposite of that. Maybe it’s because Adam’s lovingly chosen nickname became “dickhead” and Ronan’s “shithead”. Despite their teasing and kicking under tables and accumulation of scabs, there was barely a moment where they were separated. When night came, Ronan would throw rocks at Adam’s window and recite another passage of Romeo and Juliet horribly (usually with a few more profanities than necessary). Adam would allow him to make a ruckus and then go down to get him - even though Ronan had his own key to the apartment. Convenience, that’s what they both agreed upon, you can have a key for convenience. However, it was becoming increasingly obvious that convenience wouldn’t cut it anymore. Lingering touches couldn’t be excused. Longing glances, shared clothes, thoughtful gifts - hell, they’d even abandoned the short lived air mattress and Ronan had taken to falling asleep in Adam’s bed while he was at work - were all becoming too much to ignore.

Sleep had never come easy to Ronan. Sleep in Adam’s bed was as natural as breathing. Sometimes (most times), they’d wake up intertwined with each other - Ronan would bury his face in Adam’s chest while he held on protectively. Sometimes (most times), Adam would awake in the early hours of the morning, after having an hour or two of sleep, and see him by the open window, the smoke from his cigarette curling amongst the inky tendrils on his back. He hadn’t asked why. Or when. Adam was happy to wait until he told him on his own accord. Eventually, he would slink back to bed and Adam would pretend to sleep as he brushed away a few stray hairs. These small gestures were enough to set his heart on fire.

It was scary, honestly. This was unlike anything Adam had ever experienced before and the idea of somehow ruining this fragile thing they had cultivated was his worst nightmare. He was perceptive enough to notice the way Ronan closed up sometimes, locked away in his own thoughts, after they’d held onto each other for too long. If he pushed too hard, he was worried Ronan might close off forever. Not to mention, Adam had his own demons. The years of being called a few choice words from his father still haunted him.

Sighing, he looked down at Ronan. School was in an hour; he had let him sleep for as long as possible but at this stage, Adam really, _really_ needed the bathroom. “Hey, get off - we gotta get ready.” He said, shaking him lightly.

“Fuck off,” Grumbling, Ronan tugged him closer. “It’s too early.”

He placed a hand on the side of Ronan’s face, waited until his eyes fluttered open to see what Adam was doing, and then breathed directly onto his face. It was enough to get Ronan to immediately release him and scramble away. “You are _so_ fucking gross.” He complained, “Your morning breath could poison a small animal.”

Rather than reply, Adam threw his pillow at him and left the room - leaving Ronan alone with his thoughts. Thinking. He’d been doing a lot of that recently. The guilt that had been eating him from the inside out had been subsiding - it worried him to no end. While, rationally, Ronan knew God wouldn’t despise him for being The G Word, as he had dubbed it, but there was an uncertainty in this belief. What if he was so deep in his sin that the guilt he was supposed to feel was dispersing? What if this was it, this was what he’d go to hell for? What if, what if, what if - it was becoming too much.

But, he didn’t feel wrong with Adam. Nothing felt wrong with Adam. It all felt _right._ The very idea of being away from his side scared the hell out of Ronan and that fear scared him even more. He wondered if Adam felt the same. He wished he could ask.

“You’re _still_ not up?” The very boy he was thinking of interrupted his thoughts, fully dressed in uniform and looking heaven sent,“God, you’re going to make me late.”

“Why does it even matter? You’re the smartest fucker in that shithole.” Ronan said as he sat up, “If they teach you any more, you might put Einstein out of business.”

“Always so eloquent.” Adam said, checking over the contents of his backpack even though he had already checked it twice last night, “Are you coming or not? I can drop you.”

“I’m not going into that deathtrap - _I_ can drop you.”

“If you’re not getting dressed soon, neither of us are going to end up going.”

Well, that was enough to get Ronan out of bed. As much as he despised school, he would genuinely hate to be the reason Adam missed class. They’d discussed it a few times before during their midnight conversations - the reason Adam was even at Aglionby. The only thing Ronan had for him was respect, and a little (a lot of) love. Never pity and certainly nothing that would make Adam feel indebted. Even though school wasn’t Ronan’s ideal, he wouldn’t push that onto him.

 

_————_

 

“I know you get hard-ons for cars but seriously, Lynch, you’re seventeen. You don’t need this.” Adam remarked as he got into the Beemer.

“ _Eighteen_ , thank you very much.” Ronan corrected, “Sorry you’re jealous because you drive a shitbox.”

“Oh fuck you, at least my head won’t be on a pike when the revolution comes.” Adam pressed the play button on the stereo, something akin to moaning came out of the speakers.

“ _Juliet loves the beat and the lust it commands, drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, R-_ ” Before the song could continue, Ronan slammed on the eject CD button and pulled out of the parking lot at a break neck speed.

“Lynch, are you for real?” There was a huge grin on Adam’s face, Ronan could hear it. “Are you serious?”

“Shut the fuck up.” He hissed, “It’s fucking - it’s Noah’s.”

“You can’t even say that with a straight face. I thought you never lied, what happened to that?”

“ _HE_ introduced _ME_ to them.”

 

_————_

“Romeo, good night. I’ll to my truckle bed. This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep—” Noah recited with all the dramatics he could throw in, and turned to face Gansey, the only student dressed like an extra from the 1968 movie. “Come, shall we go?”

“Go, then, for ’tis in vain.” He said as Noah linked arms with him and began skipping off stage, “To seek him here that means not to be found.”

There was some shuffling as the scenes changed. A chair was dragged out, then quickly dragged off the stage, and then dragged on again with a green sheet covering it. It looked nothing like a hedge. Depending on who you asked, it was either “fortunate” or “worse than purgatory” that the class had beengranted use of the massive auditorium. What had once been a practical task to learn the text had turned into an assignment in which everyone had to contribute to a production of Romeo & Juliet. Their production, however, was becoming an odd cross of period-appropriate and West Side Story, all thanks to a particular Henry Cheng. He wasn’t even _in_ this class. At very least, he didn’t skimp on the religious imagery.

Adam cleared his throat and began reciting as he walked closer to where the chair was, “He jests at scars that never felt a wound.”

“Fuck this, I’m not getting a god damn _piggy back ride_ from you _._ ” Ronan near yelled off stage, “Give me a fucking chair.”

“That’s the only chair we have,” Henry explained - Adam peered into the darkness and watched the scene before him unfold - “Your balcony hasn’t been painted yet. Now, hop on.”

They bickered back and forth for a little while until their teacher broke them up (“Mr. Ronan Lynch, he’s the director. Listen to him or it’s an immediate fail.”). In any other life where Adam Parrish didn’t exist, Ronan might’ve walked out then and there and received the fail. In fact, he probably wouldn’t have been involved in this shit show in the first place.

Ronan spat out a “Cheng, I’m going to come and suffocate you in your sleep” which indicated he had accepted transgression, for the time being.

“You’ve lost the element of surprise, you’ll have to think of another method.” Henry replied, which meant he was happy he got away with lying about the lack of chairs.

The scene was more ridiculous than Adam could’ve ever imagined. Out came the two of them, Henry was in all black while Ronan was perched on top of him. The blond wig he was sporting, paired with the fact he was quite literally getting a piggy back ride, ruined his hard-earned delinquent look. He was currently glaring daggers at everything in his sight.

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the —”

Darkness enveloped the room; an unnatural absence of light. Even though the curtains were drawn, no sunlight entered the auditorium. It took Adam a moment to realise he was shaking; a chill had spread through him, making his teeth chatter. If he listened hard enough, something was whispering to him. The warmth of a hand on his shoulder broke him out of his trance.

“ _Being held a foe, he may not have access,_ ” Ronan’s mouth was moving out of time with the words, “ _To breathe such vows as lovers use to swear._ ”

“Ronan, what’re you saying?” Panic was started to spill out, “I don’t understand.”

“I said,” Suddenly, everything was back to normal. Ronan’s strong hands were planted on his shoulders, grounding him in reality. “Is everything alright up there? What, did you forget your lines?”

His brain was trying to catch up with what had just happened; the stark difference between the nightmare Adam had been stuck in and the bright, sunny auditorium he now stood in was causing it to malfunction. “Yeah, I did.”

Henry produced a large wad of paper and handed it over to him, “Take all the time you need. We’ll work on our Juliet’s scenes, instead.”

“Call me that again and you’ll wake up without hair.” Ronan grit out, removing his hands off of Adam’s shoulders and shoving them into his pockets. Secretly, Adam was already missing the contact.

“Oh, that’s a new one. I like it. But please don’t, I think you look better bald than I ever could.”

 

_————_

 

Rather than eat on campus, Gansey had insisted on taking them out to a pizzeria. More private, he had said, not as many prying eyes. Being away from the school was making Adam anxious - he was too preoccupied with the thought of missing the bell and being late to his next class to enjoy the pizza. Also, it had avocado on it. It was pretty disgusting.

“Say, Adam, how much do you know about Welsh kings?” Gansey began after they’d been seated for a few minutes. From the moment he had invited the group out, Adam had known he’d been practically bursting out of his skin to talk about _something_ important. He hadn’t guessed it would be about Welsh kings, though.

“Not a lot.” Adam replied, looking at Ronan for some indication about what was going on. As usual, he looked utterly disinterested. Adam nudged his foot under the table and got a nudge back. “Why? Are you doing a project on it?”

“Well,” Gansey pushed his plate out of the way and gently placed an overly packed journal onto the table, flicking through the pages. “It’s been a topic quite dear to my heart, for some time. Noah and Ronan have been helping me find this one particular king for the past couple of years. There’s a few other people who have decided to jump on the bandwagon and, well, it seems we’re currently running short on time to find him. Ah, there it is.”

Gansey pushed the journal towards Adam, it was open on a page detailing someone named Glendower and a few myths about Ley lines. While he wouldn’t call himself a skeptic - his best friend outside of school was from a family of psychics, after all - Adam wasn’t ready to believe that a centuries old dead king would somehow be alive in the USA, of all places. It wasn’t what he’d called feasible. “That’s… interesting.”

“Careful what you say,” Ronan whispered to him, “That’s his boyfriend you’re talking about.”

“I can hear you, Ronan.” Gansey warned and then turned to Adam, “It’s alright if you don’t believe it. All I’m asking is that you think about helping me with my research. As I said, I’m pressed for time and you have an extremely analytical mind. If we’re to find him, I’m sure I’ll need you.”

Usually, Gansey would just need to flash a smile, a compliment, and a few polite words, and everyone would be ready to do his bidding. Adam didn’t work that way. He nodded, said “I’ll think about it” and handed back the journal.

The four of them continued their lunch.

 

————

 

For the rest of the day, Ronan didn’t share any classes with Adam, so he decided school wasn’t worth his time. It would’ve been easy to drive around for a while, maybe even christen his set of keys and fuck around in Adam’s apartment for a while, but he decided to stay put in the parking lot until the final bell rang. It took all of his willpower not to smoke in the car - Adam had complained the smell made him nauseous once. It was a difficult task, especially when Declan was blowing his phone up with a barrage of texts about where they’d go for lunch after Mass.

He’d been annoying Adam at work after Mass rather than grin and bear the “family get-together” for the last couple of weeks. Ronan would pretend to have car issues as an excuse to hang around until the end of his shift at Boyd’s. It was fun. Way more fun than being subjected to Declan’s weekly lecture. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to get out of it this time; Matthew was getting upset about his absences. Thankfully, his phone died and he was able to wait out the next hour in silence.

 

————

 

“You’re not going to explain Gansey’s…” Adam made a vague hand movement and buckled himself into the seat, “thing, are you?”

“What’s to explain?”Ronan pulled out of the school parking lot, narrowly missing a few students.

“You could start at why there’s more than one person apparently obsessed with finding a corpse.”

He stayed quiet for a long time, a bit longer than necessary. There was no real answer to why Whelk wanted this. At least, there was no answer Ronan knew of. “Gansey’s genuine, the rest are rich shitheads with too much time and money.”

“And you believe it?” Adam had turned in his seat to look at him, “You want it too?”

“I don’t want a _favour,_ ” Which was an entirely true answer. If anything, Ronan followed Gansey because if someone could be brought from the dead, there was hope for him yet. “I want to see what happens.”

“Have you found the Ley line, yet?”

“What the fuck is this, twenty questions?” Ronan snapped, signalling the conversation was coming to an end. “I’m offended you haven’t asked to see my dick yet, Parrish.”

“Fine, I’ll ask him.”

“What? You want to see Gansey’s dick instead of mine?”

Adam rolled his eyes and looked out the window, “God, is it impossible for you to be serious for more than five seconds?”

“Jesus fucking Christ, don’t take the lord’s name in vain.”

 

————

 

Saturday arrived like a bulldozer. The morning had been perfect; the light that streamed in through the window was gentle and the apartment warmed up slowly. Since Adam didn’t have work until later that night, Saturdays were his designated day to study and catch up on homework. Before Ronan had decided to become a regular nuisance, this day of the week had been boring and honestly, lonely. Though, he’d never admit that to him.

While Adam studied, Ronan shot rubber bands at him or paced around the room or balanced various items on his head and tried to walk in a straight line. It was annoying. They went out for snacks at one point; crashed trolleys into walls, ate snickers in Adam’s shitty little car, and complained about mosquitos. Ronan even managed to help Adam memorise quotes for one of his upcoming essays. For every wrong answer, he’d get a spitball thrown at him. For every correct answer, Adam threw two spitballs back at Ronan.

Late into the afternoon, Gansey dragged him to lunch/dinner again (Noah usually called it “dunch”) to discuss possible coordinates of the Ley line. It was an odd feeling to be with Gansey without Ronan or Noah in tow. There was a particular area, hidden behind forest and steep inclines, that Gansey insisted he “had a feeling about”.

“I think we should go look at it once Whelk has left for the holidays.” Gansey said, flipping through the calendar in his diary. “It’ll be the safest time.”

That piqued Adam’s interest. “Safest?”

“Oh, yes, he held me at gunpoint a few weeks ago. Right around the time we met you, actually.” Gansey said it like it was as boring as the weather, “I’d prefer not to run into him again.”

A few beats of silence passed over the table as the gravity of those words sunk in. Gunpoint. Adam had just saved his own life and carved out something peaceful, and now he had been dragged into a potentially life threatening situation. It didn’t sit well with him.

“Why didn’t you say this _before_ you got me involved with this?” He was too horrified to be angry, “He tried to kill you, why didn’t you say anything?”

Gansey blinked a few times, as if he hadn’t ever considered that yes, it was attempted murder. Henrietta had the stench of death. There’d been corpses turning up every few months, it wasn’t anything new. What startled Adam was the proximity of it. “I apologise if you’re upset I didn’t tell you. I didn’t believe it was a vital detail.”

That only succeeded in sparking the anger in Adam; as if it was his issue that he was rightfully upset. Why should it be his own fault he was roped into unimaginable danger? “No, that’s not good enough.” He said as he tried and failed to hide the venom in his voice, “I’m not playing this game. I’m out.”

Adam got his wallet out and placed a crumpled ten dollar note on the table, and left the pizzeria. While most of his anger was directed at Gansey, there was another part of it directed at Ronan. He’d told him one night about the way he had fought tooth and nail to _live._ Away from danger. Away from his father. And Ronan had known that this “harmless” search wasn’t so harmless, after all. Adam felt like his trust had betrayed.

 

————

 

It was Sunday, which meant Ronan had to make his way through Mass without killing Declan. It was a little easier today because instead of sitting in the pews with his brothers, he had decided to sit on the steps outside St. Agnes. Ronan kept the massive church doors open so, technically, he wasn’t skipping.

When Adam had come home after meeting with Gansey, he had simply asked Ronan to leave. It was a simple enough request and while Ronan had protested it at first, he soon realised that Adam was serious. Something had happened and even if he didn’t know exactly _what,_ Ronan respected his wishes. It wasn’t the first time they’d argued and it wouldn’t be the last.

Skipping Mass wasn’t really related to getting kicked out of Adam’s apartment. It was more related to Adam in general. Currently, Ronan wasn’t feeling very holy. Even though it was baseless and ridiculous and really, really absurd, he was kind of convinced he’d set on fire if he walked through those doors. No amount of nagging and snide comments from Declan could get him through those doors.

“You could have at least worn your suit, even if you weren’t going to come in.” Were the first things Declan said to him when Mass ended.

“Don’t you know I like making you look bad?” Ronan had purposefully decided to look like a train wreck - his pants were ripped up, his shirt was stained with dirt, and his leather jacket was beginning to fall apart due to sweat. “Hey Matty, how’s school?” He asked once his younger brother exited.

“Great!” Matthew exclaimed, immediately melting the tension in the air, “I’m co-captain in netball.”

“Huh, didn’t want to do basketball?” Ronan asked as the three of them began making their way to the cafe that was a few blocks down from St. Agnes. Just a few days ago, he and Adam had been there, daring each other to drink disgusting combinations - such as ketchup in coffee and hot chocolate with egg yolk stirred in.

“I’m too short. Netball is way more fun, anyway.”

With Matthew, there was never a lull in conversation but his attention did rapidly switch. Somehow, Ronan found the time to think about what the hell he did wrong. Last night had been the loneliest he’d been for a while, even with Noah pestering him until dawn. Staying at Monmouth again had made him realise how much it wasn’t home to him. He felt more at home in an attic-turned-apartment than he ever could there. That realisation made his exile _worse._

The cafe was relatively empty; one of the servers shot Ronan a worried look. It was probably because he’d thrown up after drinking Adam’s sadistic hot sauce espresso. As always, Matthew sat beside him while Declan decided to put as much distance between them.

“I’m glad you’ve finally decided to stop killing yourself.” Declan mentioned as Ronan chewed on another piece of nicotine gum.

“Fuck off.”

“No, really, I’m glad.” Declan called the waitress over so there was a safeguard against Ronan yelling at him, “Did you finally find a girl who doesn’t find hacking up a lung attractive?”

What Declan didn’t account for is that the bigger the audience was, the better. Ronan took the gum out of his mouth and reached over the table, sticking it in Declan’s hair.

Oh well, lunch was cancelled now.

 

————

 

It was Sunday, which meant Adam was due for a visit to 300 Fox Way. Recently, he’d been seeing Persephone less and less; this in itself wasn’t odd but it wasn’t usual either. Adam had got into the habit of spending an hour or so with her, practicing whatever “magic” she saw in him. Having this habit disrupted put him on edge. It always meant something bigger was happening.

Right as he was about to knock, the door opened. “Finally! Everyone’s gone mad, Adam!” Blue exclaimed and dragged him inside, “They’ve been preforming Romeo and Juliet all week, _I’m going mad._ ”

Adam decided to ignore her dramatics, “How’d you know I was out there? Did your psychic powers finally kick in?”

“Ha, ha, ha. Very funny.” Blue continued dragging him past the living room and up to her room, “I can see you through my window, dumbass.”

Even with Blue’s door shut, Adam was able to hear muffled yelling and clashing from downstairs. “Do you see what I mean?” Blue continued, “They’re _sword fighting_ , it’s driving me nuts.”

“How did they find swords?”

“That’s not the point,” She sounded exasperated, “The point is they’re obsessed with a stupid play. Who the hell falls in love in three days? It’s stupid. No one gets married after knowing someone for, like, five minutes.”

“Blue, I’m pretty sure that happens all the time.” Adam said as he sat down on her bed, inspecting the new posters that had been plastered onto the wall, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, and all that.”

“Ugh, I just puked a bit. Please don’t say that ever again, thanks.”

They were interrupted by a soft knock and an even softer voice, “May I come in?”

“Yeah, sure.” Blue said, a little louder than necessary, and flopped down next to Adam. “Good luck.” She mouthed to him and he gave her a little nod.

“Adam, it’s good to see you again.” Persephone said, giving him a type of smile that only Persephone could do, “Come. I think we have a lot to talk about.”

The walk to her study was silent; the rest of Blue’s family was still downstairs making a ruckus but somehow, the sound didn’t manage to carry into the room. “Tell me all about him.” Persephone started as she walked to her desk and handed Adam a cup of tea.

“Who?” He asked, taking a sip.

“The boy you’ve married.”

Adam swallowed the tea the wrong way which resulted in a brief coughing fit. What was the sudden preoccupation with marriage? “I’m sorry? I’m not married.”

“You’re not married?” Persephone repeated those words with disbelief, looking at Adam as if he had sprouted a second head. “That’s odd.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why is it odd?” Adam asked and took another sip of his tea; it was hideous but he’d visited enough times to know there was always a reason why Persephone had brewed it. “Why is it weird that I’m not married?”

“I suppose it could happen in a few years time.” Persephone mused. It was generally difficult to get a straight answer out of her, she had her own way of answering questions. “But you have met him.”

Before Adam had a chance to, again, ask _who_ and _why,_ Persephone began shuffling her deck. She continued on with the conversation Adam wasn’t sure he was apart of. “Someone is trying to talk to you, it’s important to listen.”

Immediately, the strange nightmare scape he’d been in a couple of days ago was brought to the forefront of his mind. Something had been whispering to him, he’d been too scared to listen. Persephone rested her hands on Adam’s shoulders, mimicking what Ronan had done. It was painful, the hurt was still fresh in Adam’s mind.

“Oh no,” Persephone said in her very small voice, “What did he do?”

Somehow, this was more painful in a way he didn’t register at first. It felt like for the first time, he was being parented. Sighing, Adam rested his head on Persephone’s shoulder. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s dangerous,” She began, stroking his head, “but you know that.”

Right as she said that, the stereo in the corner of the room fizzled to life and a tinny sound came out of it. “ _What sorrow craves acquaintance at my hand that I yet know not?_ ”

“Ignore him,” Persephone said sternly, “It’ll be different for you. You only need to talk.”

They stayed like that for a while, as the stereo continued to sorrowfully play. Blue was right, apparently the whole house, appliances included, was obsessed with Romeo and Juliet.

“I need to go.”

“Go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I lied things did NOT pick up in this chapter, its just a lot of set up for later. It's also on the shorter side oops.  
> If there's any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, please let me know! I didn't actually edit this because I simply didn't have the time so it is what it is. 
> 
> Henry is now added to the tags because he's gonna pop up a lot more starting now! He is Ronan's Friar Lawrence after all and damn does that boy need advice in general. On a similar note, Persephone is also friar Lawrence. There's a lot of Friar Lawrences. Hopefully these two do a better job than the original Friar Lawrence. 
> 
> If you want to discuss trc, pynch OR r&j, feel free to message me on tumblr <3 I'm @ armenianbf


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronan muttered a “thanks” under his breath and made no effort to move; Adam couldn’t complain, though, as he was in the same predicament. It was as if everything would shatter if they allowed time to continue marching on. So, they continue to stay put as Ronan decided it was his turn to make sure no harm had come to Adam’s hands in the brief time they’d been apart. “These are dry as shit.” 
> 
> “Wow, thank you.”  
> “Close your eyes.”  
> “Why?”  
> “Just do it, dickhead.” 
> 
> Sighing, Adam allowed his eyes to flutter shut. There was something nerve-racking about putting all his trust in Ronan and the gentle touch he could feel on his palms only succeeded in making his heart race faster. “What are you doing, Lynch?”  
> The only sound that was present was his own uneven breathing as Ronan moved closer. It was a terrifying wait full of ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’.

Currently, Ronan had a fist full of gravel and a face that was going to be hideously scabbed come morning. The fight between the two brothers had quickly escalated but Declan had the manners to manoeuvre them outside where property damage would, hopefully, be minimal. It also allowed Matthew to stay away from the contamination zone. In an act of complete and utter petulance, Ronan threw the meagre handful of gravel at Declan and spat at his boots. “ _Fuck you_.”

“That’s real mature.” Declan didn’t bother to physically stoop to his level, “Are you fucking pleased with yourself, now?”

Ronan threw some more gravel (Declan didn’t flinch) and punched the ground a few times until his knuckles were split and stinging (Delcan flinched). “Now I am.”

“You need to fucking check yourself.” He began as he pulled Ronan up by the lapels but all the heat in his voice had evaporated. What was left was something that screamed tired. “Next week, either show up with a better attitude or don’t come at all. I’m sick of your temper tantrums.”

“Pardon me but is everything alright?” An extremely familiar voice interrupted. Ronan didn’t need to turn around to know it was Adam.

“I don’t believe that’s any of your business,” Declan replied, letting go of Ronan and dusting himself off, “But yes, everything’s fine. I was just leaving.” His haughty voice seemed ridiculous juxtaposed to the gum in his hair that was adamantly smudged and visible.

It was silent for a while as Declan left the crime scene and went to retrieve Matthew; it was too public, too seen, and too known for discussions. They’d have to wait until they were behind closed doors.

As quickly as he left, Declan returned. “We’ll be off now, Ronan. Say a proper goodbye to Matthew.”

Adam was more than happy to play spectator, watching the way Ronan went from a snarling beast to something kinder and younger. While he was still thoroughly pissed off at him, seeing Ronan in his element - gentle, beautiful - was something that made Adam’s heart skip a beat. He’d never seen someone so loving.

Once Ronan and Delcan exchanged a terse farewell and the Volvo was well on its way down the road, they started making their way back to Adam’s apartment. It was a tense walk; Adam could see the way Ronan picked gravel out of his cuts, like he was angry at the world and most importantly, himself. When they arrived, Adam immediately headed for the bathroom in search of the disinfectant and bandages he kept. Thankfully, he didn’t have much use for them these days. “Come in here.”

Like a stubborn child, Ronan decided to firmly stay put outside the bathroom. “Why?”

“Because it’s going to get infected, asshole.” Adam sighed and poked his head into the main room, “Now, come in here.”

“No.”

“Are you seriously doing this right now?”

“Yeah, I am.” They were at the world’s most ridiculous standstill. While Adam was well aware that Ronan was fluent in pushing buttons, it had been a while since he was at the receiving end of that type of treatment which made it all the more infuriating. _Especially_ when he was already upset.

“Lynch, if you’re going to behave that way, you can leave.”

An uncomfortable amount of silence followed as Ronan decided what was more important. In the end, acting like a person who didn’t have a degree in asshole-ry won. He made a show of dragging his boots against the ground as he walked to the bathroom and sat on the lid of the toilet; if Adam wasn’t aware this was Ronan’s way of conceding defeat without damaging his pride, he might’ve still made him leave. “Alright, if you can get passed this without throwing a tantrum, I’ll give you a lollypop.”

“I don’t want a damn lollypop.”

“Whoa, okay then, big boy.” Before Ronan could protest, Adam took his hands (which did a fine job of silencing him) and began carefully inspecting them. They were beautifully broad and strong - like he could create an entire world with them. If Adam was in search of proof of a God, this would be it. They stayed there like that as he carefully cleaned the wounds, picking out any stray dirt, and bandaged them. Adam didn’t want the fragile peace to end. “All done.”

Ronan muttered a “thanks” under his breath and made no effort to move; Adam couldn’t complain, though, as he was in the same predicament. It was as if everything would shatter if they allowed time to continue marching on. So, they continue to stay put as Ronan decided it was his turn to make sure no harm had come to Adam’s hands in the brief time they’d been apart. “These are dry as shit.”

“Wow, _thank you_.” 

“Close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, dickhead.”

Sighing, Adam allowed his eyes to flutter shut. There was something nerve-racking about putting all his trust in Ronan and the gentle touch he could feel on his palms only succeeded in making his heart race faster. “What are you doing, Lynch?”

The only sound that was present was his own uneven breathing as Ronan moved closer. It was a terrifying wait full of ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ - Adam hadn’t imagined his first kiss with a boy would go like this, when he was sad and disappointed and, most of all, so tired. Then, as if Ronan had read his mind, he made an incredibly loud show of spitting on Adam’s hands and immediately burst into laughter afterwards. For a second, he was too shocked to do anything as the trance he’d been in was suddenly broken. However, that soon passed and he decided to retaliate by wiping the spit off on Ronan’s face which only succeeded in making him laugh louder.

“You’re an _asshole._ ” Adam couldn’t find it within himself to be angry, though. The sheer absurdity of it was enough to make him laugh along as well. 

“Tell me something I don’t know, Parrish.”

However, the brief respite of their antics wasn’t enough to completely right the wrong that Adam felt. The idea that his life was inadvertently put in danger because some schoolboys took hunting for a legend too seriously, and that Ronan failed to mention this fact, was painful. It was one thing for Gansey to omit that fact but it was another for Ronan to do so.

“Why didn’t you tell me Gansey nearly died?”

Ronan leaned back and stared at the blinding bathroom lights as he thought of an appropriate answer. It was obvious that this wasn’t the time or place to crack jokes but the truth wasn’t readily apparent - Ronan didn’t want to tell his signature half-truths this time. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Everyone dies at some point, I didn’t think it was important.”

“That’s what Gansey said.” It was beginning to become exceedingly obvious that they were all in over their heads which was amplifying the uncertainty - the fear - Adam felt. They were teenagers - young and brash and with little to no self preservation. He felt wiser beyond his years compared to them. “I’m not going to do this if it means getting murdered.”

Ronan simply gave him a shrug and stood up. “Fine.” He said before wandering out into the main room; an obscene amount of rummaging emitted from his location soon after. “Christ Parrish, what do you even eat? Do you live on air?”

Before Adam had a chance to answer or assess the damage in his kitchen, Ronan whipped his head inside the bathroom and simply said, “Let’s go.”

 

————

 

They opted to take Adam’s shitty Hondoyata for grocery shopping - there was no real reason behind the decision but he didn’t mind. In fact, Adam liked it because it allowed him to feel more in control of the situation which was probably why Ronan had suggested it in the first place. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Ronan or that he felt like he was at the mercy of his whims - there hadn’t ever been someone that he felt more equal to than Ronan - but these gestures were exactly what created that trust.

Before he had time to react, the radio sprung to life and a song blasted out at a volume that Adam didn’t even know existed. “ _Juliet, when we made love, you used to cry. You said 'I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die’_ ”

“What kind of old man shit is this, Parrish?” Ronan had no problem yelling over the music while he tried to turn it down. It was a futile attempt that resulted in the volume somehow increasing; at the back of his mind, Adam wondered if it was the same forces that turned Persephone’s radio on. “Jesus fuck, what’s wrong with this car?!”

“I don’t know!” He quickly pulled over to the side of the road, turned the engine off and removed his keys in the hopes the radio would stop. When it didn’t, he felt his heart drop as he cycled through all the possible causes for the malfunction - if it was the head unit wiring that was improper it would be an easy fix but it was another story if it was his ignition cylinder. Adam wasn’t sure he could handle the setback. His thoughts were quickly interrupted when Ronan started kicking it. Somehow, this managed to do the trick. “What the fuck, Lynch?”

He gave him a half-hearted shrug, “It worked, didn’t it?”

“Yeah but I don’t need it _broken_.”

“It looked like it was already fucked up beyond reason.” There was absolutely no trace of remorse. “Hurry up, I don’t have all day.”

Adam shot him an icy look before pulling back onto the road and continuing on with their trip to the grocery store. Even if the radio was off now, it still didn’t explain what had happened and he knew he wasn’t going to rest easy until every last explanation was exhausted. Maybe it would be a blessing in disguise if his car was just haunted.

“You didn’t answer me before, what the fuck kind of song was that? I didn’t peg you for a Dire Straits kind of guy.” He had reclined the seat back so he could rest his feet on the dashboard, “Did you hear it on Old Farts one-oh-six point five?”

“I know this might be hard to hear but not everyone likes the ear-bleeding noise pollution you call EDM.” Then, after a few moments, Adam inevitably followed up with, “Or early 2000s emo whining.”

“That was a low blow, Parrish.”

“I don’t hear you denying it.”

 

————

 

Surprisingly enough, the supermarket was quiet. They’d purposefully driven out of town to avoid the possibility of bumping into anyone they knew. Lately, their faces were becoming a bit too well known due to their rowdy shopping cart racing and it would be heinous to put those to a stop.

Also, it would be incredibly awkward for everyone involved if they accidentally bumped into Gansey. As it was, he still had no idea that Ronan and Adam got along, let alone that they hung out regularly outside of school hours or group get-togethers. Even if their usual haunting wasn’t the same as Gansey’s, it was an incredibly small town and the chance of them being spotted was too high.

“Here, this one’s better.” Ronan unceremoniously dumped the can of tuna into the cart. By “better” he meant cheaper, of course. Right as Adam began reaching for the coleslaw, he intercepted, “What the fuck? No, we’re not eating that.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Ronan simply stared at him as if he’d just committed a crime so great that there was no chance of salvation. “Parrish,” He pleaded, “What is _wrong_ with you?”

“Shut up.” He put it into the cart and smacked Ronan’s hand away when he tried to grab it. Then, because Ronan was persistent in his efforts, he knocked the shopping cart into him. “We’re keeping it and that’s final.”

There were no more arguments until a massive box of Froot Loops somehow found its way into the pile. Adam stopped walking abruptly and took the box out of the cart, “No.”

“It’s called compromising, Parrish. Ever heard of it?” He moved to take the box away from Adam, “ _You’re_ getting coleslaw so _I’m_ getting Froot Loops.” What he wasn’t expecting was that Adam wasn’t planning on giving up the offending cereal anytime soon and would rather abandon their shopping than do so.

“We’re not getting Froot Loops.” He said right before booking it to the breakfast foods isle. This left Ronan with no choice _but_ to chase him. Perhaps if he had been more perceptive and less focused on his mission for Froot Loops, Ronan would’ve noticed the boisterous laughter of a certain classmate or the way Adam was awkwardly standing by someone else’s shopping cart.

“Lynch! You shop here, too?” Henry looked over the moon as Ronan turned the corner, “What a coincidence!”

Even though there was no reason for it, Ronan couldn’t help but feel like he was doing something _wrong_ to be seen with Adam in public. Like it was too obscene, too dirty. It didn’t sit well with him. “Why the fuck are you here?”

Thankfully enough, Henry wasn’t easily phased by his prickliness. “Well, shopping, obviously!” He simply grinned and patted his cart, as if Ronan’s rude introduction was banter between old friends. “Are you here for a different reason?”

“Yes, we’re shop lifting.” Adam answered for him, “Lynch is a kleptomaniac.” It was hard to tell if it was a lie or not due to the deadpan execution of the statement; even Ronan took a brief moment to check if he was actually a kleptomaniac or not.

Henry wasn’t phased; instead, he laughed like he was in on the joke. “How adventurous. If you need any help, I’ll be by the frozen goods.” Before he left, he added, “have fun stealing!”

Despite the innocent nature of the meeting, Adam’s good mood had dispersed. The once jovial atmosphere had been replaced by something more anxious; it was clear that Ronan felt the same way. There was nothing to suggest that Henry would go and tell Gansey about seeing the two of them but it still felt too dangerous. Due to that, the first words out of Adam’s mouth were: “Let’s go home.”

 

————

 

Next to Ronan’s continuous hijacking of the cart and the shitbox’s unfriendly trunk, it was surprising they managed to unload the obnoxious amount of food and useless items into the car. Then, for good luck, they crashed the shopping cart (with the both of them in it) and went on their merry way. Even though the gash on Ronan’s hand had reopened and Adam’s knees were thoroughly scraped, they were both happy. Never in his life had Adam had the chance to be loud and open and free, and one of the best things about spending time with Ronan was that he gave him that chance. He was allowed to be rough, he was allowed to be young.

The car ride home was anything but eventful. Adam allowed him to play terrible music and sing along equally terribly, and Ronan allowed him to complain as much as he wanted to about it. Ronan even allowed him to briefly talk about his brothers (“did you really stick gum in Declan’s hair?” Adam had asked in disbelief and affection).

Once they pulled into the carpark, it was easy to spot that there was something amiss. There was a loud red mustang that previously hadn’t existed in the realm of St. Agnes’ Parking Lot. Before the shitbox could come to a stop, Ronan had ripped himself out of the car and was yelling obscenities at Noah. It was some sort of ritual the two of them had and it served as a distraction to why Noah knew that Ronan would be with Adam.

Adam could make out parts of the conversation as he parked and went to responsibly take some of their shopping out of the trunk - it sounded like Gansey had made some grand discovery about Ley Lines or dead kings worth dying over and he needed Ronan to come help out. He gave them a few more seconds as he awkwardly shuffled the groceries around on the gravel; Adam took a brief glance in their direction and noticed a nasty bruise forming on the side of Noah’s face. It looked like whoever did it had been aiming to give him a black eye.

It was lucky that Noah was as perceptive as he was loud because he didn’t try to include him into the conversation. Instead, when Adam came over, the topic changed drastically. “Parrish, you’re the cleverest shit I’ve ever met,” He started, “I need some tutoring.”

“On what?” It seemed like all of them were trying to ignore why there were enough groceries for two people sitting in the open and why Ronan and Adam were sharing a car when they were supposed to hate each other.

Noah clapped him on the back, “I don’t know - math? You’re good at that, right?”

Before he could answer, Ronan stepped in - “He’s a fucking freak of nature, of course he is.”

“That’s that, then!” Noah gave him a few more claps on the back - it was more nervous than enthusiastic, “I’ll bring my homework to Nino’s.”

Once they were left alone again and the lingering sound of a Blink-182 song being played too loudly had faded, Ronan sighed and ran a hand over his hair. “Fuck, how many fucking times do we need to get interrupted?”

Adam handed him a couple of bags and bit back a question about what Noah had been talking to Ronan about. “I’m half-expecting Gansey to be sprawled across the bed upstairs.”

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I fucking hope not.” He kicked some gravel around as he waited for Adam to hand him some more bags. On one hand, Ronan wanted to carry as many shopping bags as possible in order to somehow impress Adam but on the other, he wanted to see just how strong Adam was under all those layers. “He’d think we’re cheating on him.”

Another bag was handed over. “Come on.”

 

————

 

They cooked dinner together that night - surprisingly, Ronan had a lot of recipes under his wing and while most of the food they bought was useless, some of it fit the criteria. Having an unofficial roommate was more than Adam could’ve ever asked for; having company at all hours of the night was something he hadn’t known he needed. Something as simple as eating dinner with someone who he trusted (trusted to be a dickhead, trusted to be honest, trusted to be kind) made him feel like he was normal, and that possibly, he could be knowable. It was nice.

 

————

 

Adam would wake up whenever the pressure in the bed shifted. Despite the fact that smoking wasn’t on the agenda anymore, Ronan would still open the window to look out at the night sky. It was a ritual at that point but Adam was happy to be apart of it. Getting used to Ronan smelling so strongly of spearmint was taking some getting used to, however. But it suited him better.

“What time is it?” He rolled over to grab his watch and to sneak a look at Ronan’s sprawling tattoo - it never looked real in the moonlight.

“It’s nearly five.”

Adam sighed and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He had to start getting ready now if he wanted to get to his morning shift on time. “Thanks for waking me, asshole.”

Ronan turned around and gave his signature grin, “You’re welcome, shitbag.”

 

————

 

Getting through a morning class without Adam was like living through hell itself. Especially when said class was Religious Education and his heart was full of sin. Thankfully, Noah was there to keep him distracted which was a task he usually excelled at. Today, though, he seemed to be having some difficulty.

“Gansey’s having fits, you’re barely home these days.” Noah said, idly drawing circles on the looseleaf paper Ronan had brought with him.

“Gansey should mind his own fucking business.” He mumbled as he flicked through his well-worn bible. It was the one he’d been given on his 10th birthday - Niall Lynch had said it was to celebrate “making it to double-digits”. The memory made him feel sick these days.

“You’re not doing… you know…” He trailed off, making a vague hand gesture, “You know.”

“I’m not what?” Ronan wasn’t interested in playing these games, he slammed the bible down on the table. “If Gansey’s asked you to check up on me, I swear to God.”

Noah dropped his pen and put his hands up, “Don’t shoot the messenger!”

“Well, tell him _thanks_ for respecting my fucking _privacy._ ”

“I know you’re hanging out with Parrish but he doesn’t.” He dropped his voice to a whisper, “Just tell him. It doesn’t matter.”

For a short moment, he had been convinced that Noah knew his secret. Acidic shame briefly burned holes through his stomach and suffocated him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry, scream, or die. Then, it passed. No, Noah hadn’t told him to tell Adam what he felt. Everything was fine. It was fine. “For fuck’s sake Czerny, I _can’t_.”

“Fine, whatever.” Noah sighed and swooped to pick his pen off the floor, “Is Adam still in with this? There’s a funky forest Gansey wants to go look at tonight.”

Ronan’s mood only managed to get worse. “Ask him yourself, dumbass.”

“Jeez Louise, what’s wrong with you? You two are _literally_ attached to the hip, I thought you’d know.”

“I’m not his fucking minder, Czerny. I don’t know every single detail that goes through his damn mind.”

The bickering abruptly came to a stop as the door to the classroom opened with a crash; unfortunately, it was Whelk. Ronan said a silent prayer. It seemed that Noah was doing the same thing.

It seemed ridiculous that high school rivalries could escalate to the height that it had - usually, there was no need to worry about being murdered by a classmate but when it came to him, Ronan felt like he was already six feet deep in the ground. There was a dangerous desperation that Whelk gave off; this had only made itself known recently. Gansey had been searching for something more for years - many years before Ronan came along, and many more before Noah - but Whelk’s hunt had only begun recently and he acted with complete carelessness for everyone involved. It was him and it was always going to be just him.

Whelk smacked the back of Noah’s head as he walked past them. If Noah hadn’t gripped tightly onto Ronan’s arm in a silent plea to let it go, he wouldn’t have let it stand. He lowered his voice, “This isn’t right.”

“It’s fine.” Noah matched his whisper. “It’s nothing serious.”

“He’s a fucking loose canon.” The class was starting to fill up with other students. It was no time to start a fight. Ronan turned subtly in his seat, trying to catch a glimpse at Whelk, “Be careful, okay?”

“I’ll take that advice when you do.”

 

————

 

While Adam was busy attempting to tutor Noah, Gansey and Ronan made quiet plans to search a strange forest that shouldn’t exist just outside of town. That previous night, Noah had come over with news that Gansey had taken the wrong turn when coming home from school and ended up on a dirt trail, leading directly to the most magnificently terrifying forest he’d ever seen. It was clear from the get-go it had some magical origin. Gansey had looked at every map of Henrietta under the sun and never was a forest of this size mentioned.

However, Ronan felt weird about the prospects of being somewhere without Adam. It felt like a betrayal, strangely. Though, this was what he wanted.

“Lynch,” Gansey snapped his fingers in front of his face, “Listen in.”

“ _What?_ ” It came out harsher than necessary but Gansey was used to it. “I’m listening.”

He leaned back into the booth and tapped his pencil on the open journal; it was on a page listing the types of manifestations that could occur on a Ley Line. “We need to go tonight. I need you.”

Ronan bit at his leather bands and gave a muffled response, “Alright. But I need to be somewhere after.”

After hearing that, Gansey’s expression turned apprehensive. “It’s too dangerous to race while Whelk is being like this, Ronan. Did you see what he did to Noah? What he did to me? You can’t —”

“For fuck’s sake, I’m not doing that shit anymore.” Ronan couldn’t make himself look him in the eyes so he opted to play with his pizza, “Trust me, alright?”

“What are you actually doing, then?” He crossed his arms over his chest and dipped his head slightly to look at Ronan over his reading glasses.

It was becoming difficult to dodge Gansey’s questioning - Ronan didn’t want to outright lie but it was clear he couldn’t omit the truth either. He took a few moments to assess which would be worse. “Parrish is helping me with homework.”

Gansey looked pleased. More than pleased. He looked over the moon, in fact. “Oh Ronan, why didn’t you mention that before?”

“We’re not talking about this again.” Ronan muttered, looking at the table Noah and Adam were seated at and telepathically pleading for help. It was uncomfortable enough admitting that half-truth and Ronan wanted out of the conversation immediately. Unsurprisingly, Adam noticed.

While Gansey went on a tangent about exams and grades and everything else batshit boring, Adam and Noah packed up their things and sat down in the booth. Right at the tail end of his spiel, Noah interrupted. “So, we’re ready to go, lads?” Then, he added, “Did that sound alright? I didn’t want to say dudes.”

“No, it didn’t.” Ronan answered and downed the rest of his coke, “I’m ready to go if grandpa is.”

Adam didn’t bother questioning where they were going, he already knew it was something he didn’t want to hear. “I have to get going. My shift starts soon.” He said as he bumped Ronan’s leg with his; it was their own goodbye. “Czenry, do you want to do this again tomorrow?”

“Shit yeah, I’m drowning in parabolas and you’re my life jacket.” Noah draped an arm over his head dramatically, “Save me, Parrish.”

Ronan kicked Noah under the table. “Save yourself, dumbass.”

Before a foot fight could begin, Gansey stood up and started shuffling out of the booth. “Come on, we need to go before it gets late.” He said, using his stern voice before replacing it with his ‘Gansey the politician’ voice. “Parrish, it was lovely spending this time with you, as usual. I hope you can forgive these hooligans.”

“It’s nothing I’m not used to.” Adam smiled, eyeing Ronan as he did so. He got a half-hearted shove in return. His heart felt like it was going to explode from fondness. “I’ll see you guys later.”

 

————

 

Seeing as all his time was being spent with Adam, Ronan hadn’t had a look at the so-called magical forest, yet. However, he was sure it was ten times more intimidating in the twilight than it was in the day. The drive wasn’t silent, as nothing ever was when it came to The Pig. It spluttered its way up the winding road, gravel hitting the windshield rhythmically. Ronan craned his neck to look at the looming trees - the branches looked like they were praying to something up above. Twisted, ancient, and sorrowful. It was like taking a look into his heart. “This place is creepy as shit, Dick.”

“It’s truly stunning inside, Ronan. You’re going to love it.” Gansey had to raise his voice to be heard over the engine, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

When the car came to a halt, Noah was the first to bound out of the car. Fireflies behaved like street lights, illuminating the way into the inky forest. Ronan silently followed his two friends. In truth, he would’ve much preferred to be curled up in the old, rickety bed next to Adam. He placed another piece of gum into his mouth. “So, are we going in or what?”

Gansey was stood in front of two trees with peeling bark; they were wound around one another to form an entrance. They were weeping a muddy red sap. “This wasn’t here last time.”

“I’ll go in first.” Noah was the human embodiment of overconfidence. He was a boy who could never die. Before Gansey could hold him back, he took the first steps into the darkness and disappeared from view.

“Let’s go, pussy.” Ronan grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the abyss.

 

————

 

Work was unbelievably boring.

‘ _I wonder what they’re doing’_ his mind whispered, betraying his convictions. Adam decided to hum along with the radio, trying to drown out his own queries. He’d already decided - it was safety over adventure. After escaping a life of uncertainty, he didn’t want to leap back into it.

But, it would’ve been fun. To be a boy. Not someone who had to grow up at the speed of lightning. He desperately wished he could have childish wonder and curiosity but instead he was stuck with self-preservation and constant fear.

Growing frustrated with his thoughts, Adam rolled out from under the car. It was close enough to being finished that he could take a break. Half-heartedly wiping the grime off his hands, he got up and went to the kitchen. There was a sprite he’d been saving for a few days in there and it was the type of pick-me-up he was craving.

As he reached for the fridge, the lights cut off. It didn’t feel like a regular power cut.

Adam felt like he’d just stepped into a furnace - the heat of a forest fire beat against his face and the door behind him clicked shut. He whipped around to try to open it but the handle was overwhelmingly hot to the touch - there couldn’t be a fire, it was impossible. Panic was slowly starting to take him over as he rushed to the sink, trying to turn the faucet on to no avail.

“Romeo, the love I bear thee can afford no better term than this,” Hissed into his left ear, “Thou art a villain.”

It was a voice he’d heard before.

The lights came back on. 

————

 

They were immediately shoved into a large clearing. Afternoon light trickled in through the canopy above and cast a spotlight on an obnoxious looking car that sat prettily amongst wildflowers. The red mustang had a heavy dusting of green-yellow pollen.

On the driver’s window a word was written haphazardly: Murdered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow... sorry for such a long wait! There's been a lot of stuff going on that made me put a hold on finishing and editing this chapter. I graduated (woo!), got into art school, AND most importantly I got a boyfriend!! I know 20gayteen was last year but.... it's 20gayteen all over again 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter <3 if there's any obvious spelling mistakes or grammatical errors feel free to let me know! 
> 
> Main Tumblr: armenianbf  
> TRC sideblog: armenianronanlynch


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When he inevitably arrived in Hell, Ronan was sure Henry would be waiting for him there dressed in a ridiculously dated outfit while reciting Shakespearean nonsense. 
> 
> The man of his nightmares was currently standing on a chair with a microphone that was, thankfully, turned off. He was still yelling into it, though. “We’re doing the wedding today so I need the choir in front of the stage, stat!”
> 
> One of the worst things about the entire ordeal was the fact Ronan was forced into a poorly crafted wedding dress over his school uniform and an equally unflattering wig. It was supposed to be about historical accuracy or whatever the fuck but all it did was serve as a massive embarrassment. It was like wearing a “kick me” sign except ten times worse seeing as how stupidly handsome Adam looked in a suit all while he looked like an ugly cross dressing duckling.

“You’ve reached 300 Fox Way,” The recording of Blue’s monotone voice answered, “Please leave your name, number, and message after the tone, and if you’re after Orla, fu— _BLUE!_ — shove off.” 

Adam didn’t wait for the beep to sound; he hung up and redialed, silently praying that someone would answer. There were a chorus of voices whispering to him in his deaf ear. Persephone had told him to listen but it was easier said than done - they all overlapped each other, reciting different stories. In order to remind himself that he wasn’t going crazy, he took a look at his palm. It was beginning to welt. “Come on,” Adam pleaded quietly, “Pick up.”

Finally after his third time calling, Maura answered. “Sorry for the wait.” Her words were slightly slurred - it sounded like the Fox Way women had been practicing their skills that evening. “Adam, I reckon you need to come over.”

The line went dead before he had a chance to answer.

He didn’t waste any time packing up his things into his backpack. Before he left, he wrote a brief note explaining that he burned his hand and how he wasn’t able to finish his duties for the day. While, logically, Adam knew he had to go (there was no way he could work with his hand the way it was, let alone with something haunting him), it felt like a failure on his behalf. Boyd was a nice man who had supported him through the toughest years of his life and by failing to do what he was supposed to, Adam felt a heavy guilt weigh on him. Pushing it to the back of his mind, he locked up the shop before getting into the car.

As he drove, the radio turned on and began rapidly flipping through channels by itself. It was in times like these that Adam wished he had a mobile phone. At first, it seemed like gibberish was blasting out of his speakers but soon enough, actual words began to form. It seemed to be working as a makeshift spirit box and while Adam wasn’t fond of the constant hijacking of his car radio, he could appreciate the ingenuity. Rather than ignore it, he turned the volume up as loud as it could go and started to listen.

“ _Le-ft before - the st-a-tion._ ” whatever had possessed his car demanded. Sure enough, a gas station entered his vision and Adam made a sharp turn. More directions were strung together hastily and he stayed true to them. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if he didn’t.

After a while, more gibberish filled the air. It was as if there were multiple entities fighting for control. Adam took a look at his surroundings, trying to piece together where he was. Unfortunately, there was nothing familiar about the scenery. The sun had set somewhere along the drive and he found himself in pitch black darkness, the trees around him looked like ink stains. He flicked his high beam on but it did a poor job illuminating the road ahead of him. In fact, it looked like the light was being eaten by the darkness.

“ _Find_ _the - path._ ” The radio said, “ _F-ind the - path._ ”

It kept repeating the cryptic request. A cool chill ran up his spine and Adam wondered if somewhere he’d made a wrong turn. Once again, the volume turned up by itself to a level that wasn’t possible. 

Months ago, when he’d first found himself in the good graces of the psychics, Persephone had given him his first lesson on all things whimsical. Rule one was don’t trust it (he’d failed that step), rule two was make your own rules (he’d forgotten to do that), and rule three - because everything had to come in threes - was trust yourself. He gripped the steering wheel and, ignoring the sharp pain in his hand, abruptly turned right into the trees.

 

————

 

There was a festering scent in the air. It only took Ronan a few seconds to find the origin of it; all the trees surrounding them were splattered with blood and entrails and everything else ghastly. Oddly enough, there were no flies or maggots that he could see.

He tried to hold his breath in the hopes of ignoring the smell. It was too eerily similar to the scene he’d been greeted with on the day of his father’s murder and Ronan was worried the contents of his stomach might make a quick escape if he thought too much about it.

It seemed that Noah was in a similar situation. He was currently hunched over, noisily vomiting into a bed of bluebells.

Somehow Gansey wasn’t going the same motions; instead, he was happily inspecting the mustang. It was a carbon copy of the car Noah drove, right down to the peeling Blink-182 bumper stickers and the evidence of being keyed a couple of nights ago. However, it looked like it’d been parked there for months. There were all kinds of debris covering it and a mass of leaves had made their home on the hood. Gansey took his phone out in order to document the scene like he usually would but it was dead. “Ronan, do you have your phone?”

“No,” Ronan answered and then began checking his pockets. He corrected himself and carelessly threw the phone in the general direction of Gansey - if it broke, it broke and if it survived, that was too bad. There were more pressing matters at hand, like could Noah beat the world record for longest throw up? He was currently rubbing Noah’s back in an attempt to be soothing but it didn’t seem to be working very well. While Ronan’s boots had been introduced to many bodily fluids over the years - bile included -, it had always been his own and he wanted to keep it that way. “Come on, shitstain. Pull it together.”

Noah didn’t reply because he couldn’t. However, it did seem those words of encouragement did some good because the vomiting deescalated. Somewhere from behind the car, Gansey called out, “Your phone is dead, too. Could you throw over Noah’s?”

“For fuck’s sake Dick, he’s _dying_ right now,” Ronan yelled back, “Come get it yourself!”

After Gansey insensitively patted Noah down and found his phone, it was unsurprisingly out of battery as well. “It must be the forest.”

“It _must_ be the forest.” Ronan repeated, managing to do a pretty spot on impersonation. “Have you got guts of steel or what, Dick? Don’t care about all the fucking blood?”

For some reason, the question seemed to confuse Gansey. He looked at Ronan as if he’d just sprouted horns - which, honestly, wasn’t that big of a stretch. “What blood?”

“Look _around_ for fuck’s sake,” He began, one hand firmly planted on Noah’s back and the other pointing directly at one of the particularly soaked trees, “Can’t you see this shit?”

“There’s no blood, Ronan.” Gansey sounded more concerned at this point, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

And just like that, the blood was gone. No brain matter, no intestines, no nothing. The hideous smell that had been plaguing him was suddenly vanished, as if he had imagined the entire thing. Instead, there were vines wrapped neatly around the tree trunks, flowering colours unimaginable.

Noah was still vomiting though, which now seemed odd compared to the scene that was now laid out in front of them. Gansey crouched down next to him and began to speak gently, “What’s wrong?”

For a while, there was no solid answer emerging from him - only heaving and gasping breaths. A sense of dread began to fill Ronan, nothing was making sense. He knew what could appear on Ley Lines, he was aware of the mind-fuckery that could happen - hell, he’d even been at the end of it - but there wasn’t much that could illicit the response Noah had. “Jesus fuck Czerny, we can’t help you if you don’t speak.”

Finally, he managed to say something. “I’m - there’s —” Noah frantically darted his eyes around the forest, as if he was trying to avoid settling on one place. Then, he settled, and stared directly at the middle of the clearing. “Over there.”

And then, they saw something no one could’ve expected. It was no wonder Noah had been so horrified because right there, in the centre of it all, laid his dead body.

Seeing a body drained of life was never easy, would never be easy. He heard Gansey mumble something under his breath that sounded like _“Oh, God”_ but it was clear there was no God in this forest; they were abandoned like Adam and Eve. For what felt like an eternity, they stood there. All of Ronan’s muscles locked up, he couldn’t move even if he wanted to.

“What the fu—” The roar of an engine interrupted the only words he was capable of. All of the trees behind them began to part, as if they were creating a path, and distant headlights began to bound towards them. Soon enough, Adam’s Hondayota sped out of darkness and would’ve crushed all of them if not for divine intervention; the branches swooped down and forced the car to a halt. 

Everything was overwhelming - the _hows_ and _whys_ of it all were completely lost on the boys. They were forced to deal with the fact that Noah was both simultaneously dead and alive, and that Adam had somehow been directed into the situation. For the time being, Gansey decided to focus on carefully moving Noah away from the body while Ronan rushed over to the now stilled Hondayota. The spell he’d been under had been forcibly broken apart.

He practically ripped the door open, “What the _fuck_ , Parrish?”

Adam was wide eyed in shock. As he fumbled to take off his seat belt - the car radio long forgotten by now -, he managed to answer Ronan’s question with one of his own, “What are you guys doing here?”

“Gansey wanted us to come out here.” _Don’t think of the body, don’t think of the body,_ “It’s a fucking magic forest, how’d you get in?”

Maybe it was the adrenalin but Adam was smug in his answer. “Well, I drove.” He said, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“No shit.” Ronan replied and then stepped out of the way so Adam could exit the car. Despite the fact it had been forcibly stopped, the car showed no sign of damage. It looked as pristine as ever (which, really, wasn’t that pristine) and Adam was the sign of perfect health. “There, um,” It was hard stringing together the appropriate words when breaking the news that there was a dead doppelgänger, “Someone’s dead.”

Quite obviously, the news was shocking. Adam stopped in his tracks and very carefully refused to look around the forest. “Dead?”

Ronan took his hand - his heart skipping a beat as he did - and quickly dragged him to behind the Mustang where Noah and Gansey were. In the short time that had passed, Noah still hadn’t managed to calm down. Who could blame him? His car was here, his own body was here - the message on the window played on repeat in Ronan’s mind. Murdered. It didn’t get much clearer than that. Murdered. Like his father. Like his friend.

Gansey was busy taking over the role of mother hen; he was gripping onto Noah and describing how pretty the trees looked and how lovely the bird song was and everything but the murder scene they’d stumbled on.

“We need to leave.” Adam finally said. They were still holding hands but thankfully neither Gansey nor Noah seemed to have noticed yet. He took the opportunity to squeeze Ronan’s hand. “It’s too dangerous to stay here.”

“But…” Whatever argument Gansey wanted to make fell short. Instead, he went silent for a while, stroking his bottom lip with his thumb as he thought about the options. “Alright, we’ll take your car. Is that okay, Adam?”

He nodded and heard Ronan make a sigh of relief. Realistically, their main concern should’ve been reporting it to the police but Adam knew that wasn’t an option. Right now, their best bet would be going to 300 Fox Way. At least there they might get some answers. “I’ll start the car.”

Ronan hadn’t let go of his hand yet; honestly, he wasn’t ready for his hand to be let go, either. For some reason, it made him feel safe despite the ever-present rush of doing something _wrong._

As they got up and walked past the body, Ronan took the time to etch the scene into his memory. There was the need to remember exactly what had happened here, like the world depended on it. The body - Noah’s body - was serene amongst the violence. At first sight, it looked like he was only sleeping. It was eerie, staring at a copy of his friend. There were some differences like how the bruise on his cheek looked older, more yellow, and there was a thin cut on his forehead. However, the biggest difference was the neat bullet hole in his temple.

He had to look away. Seeing the cause of death was too much to deal with.

“Are you okay?” Ronan hadn’t even noticed he’d stopped until Adam was staring into his eyes, worry plain and clear on his face.

“Yeah. Let’s just get the fuck out of here.” He started walking again, faster this time, and made sure Adam was close by.

 

————

 

Strangely enough, the exit point was vastly different than the entry. Adam found himself in an entirely new place when he drove them out of the forest. However, it seemed to be correct, as the Camaro was waiting for them patiently. He turned around in his seat to ask Gansey and Noah, “Are you guys happy to follow me? I know someone who can help.”

“Yes, that’s perfect.” Gansey had to answer for the both of them.

There were a few moments of an odd type of silence as Gansey and Noah exited the car. It was uncomfortable to be without the weight of Ronan’s hand around his and Adam desperately wanted to rectify that but it seemed too impossible. Too straightforward in this context. So instead, Adam closed his eyes and leaned against the headrest. “Who was it?”

The answer was obvious. Even though Adam had tried his best not to look, not to know, it’d had been impossible. He knew. He knew who the corpse was. But he needed to hear it.

“It’s…” There was an undecipherable look on Ronan’s face. “It’s Noah.”

The Camaro roared to life and drowned out all noise. Even with the windows closed, there was no escaping the rattling engine.

Adam was at a loss for words. He couldn’t say “it’ll be fine”, he couldn’t give baseless and empty comfort. Instead, he reached over and took Ronan’s hand.

 

————

 

It was too little too late when Adam realised that Blue had a gripe with Gansey. As the door to the Sargent household opened, the replay of Blue’s threat to cut off Gansey’s balls played loud and clear. When she yelled _“you!”_ and marched over, her small stature growing five sizes in her anger, Adam knew that he’d made a mistake.

Luckily, Maura had the good sense to whisk Noah away from the soon-to-be crime scene. Adam was a firm believer in reality and had always considered himself the skeptic but Maura’s psychic prowess had been proven time and time again; this was only another instance added to the long list of evidence that fortunetelling somehow existed.

Right as Gansey opened his mouth to greet her or, hopefully, apologise, Blue landed a tight, little punch to his arm and walked away pleased with herself. No one went to defend him; in fact, Ronan let out a ferocious laugh, as the act was the height of comedy.

“Now!” Blue said, her voice three times louder than necessary. “You’re allowed to come in.” As Gansey stepped inside, she hissed, “But I’m watching you, asshole.”

She was as intimidating as she was small: very.

The house looked entirely different than it did when it was decked out for the annual masquerade. While the tacky glass chandeliers remained, it looked cluttered and homely instead of dark and mysterious. It felt like years since Ronan stepped foot into this place and, even though he wasn’t fond of heretics, it felt like fate had brought him there.

“Adam, dear, what happened to your hand?” Maura asked. She had sat Noah down on the couch in the hallway and from the sounds of it, Calla was busy in the kitchen preparing a drink for him - whether it was alcoholic or not, that was between her and God.

There had been so many things happening one after the other than Adam had forgotten he’d burned his hand. He wasn’t sure how to answer that question. The chances that Ronan wouldn’t believe him or worse, think he was crazy, were slim, especially after what they’d just experienced, but the fear was still there. “Work.” He answered, “It’s what I called you about.”

That seemed to get the message across. Maura made a gesture to follow her, “Come here, let’s get it sorted out in the bathroom.”

 

————

 

Ronan sat heavily next to Noah on the couch. He hadn’t bothered to clock where Gansey had run off to. He was searching for the right words to say and decided to settle with, “Shit.”

That managed to get a laugh out of Noah. “Shit, indeed.”

He wished he could lie, wished he was like his brother, wished that falsehoods were as natural as breathing so he could deny the forest’s existence. But instead he was stuck with his lonely truth. “Don’t they know you?” Ronan was desperate to talk about something normal for a change, “The psychics. You got an invitation to their party.”

“My mom knows them.” Noah said, shutting his eyes and relaxing against the couch. The sight was so similar, too similar, to how the corpse had looked that Ronan nudged him. He snapped his eyes open and poked his tongue out in protest of the action. “She gets readings done whenever she, like, doesn’t know what to do at work.”

“Huh. Weird.” Ronan received a kick for that answer. “Fuck, I don’t want to go to school tomorrow.”

“Me neither.” Noah sighed, “That place was nicer the last time we went there. Did I tell you there were these cool fish?”

He shook his head, “Nah, you didn’t.”

“They changed colour, Ronan. It was so awesome.” This seemed to pick Noah’s mood up, “Gansey literally made them change colour.”

“Shit, really?” This was the kind of mindless, jovial conversation he’d been praying for. “That’s crazy.”

They were interrupted by a tall lady who exuded “fuck off” energies. She was carrying a tray with a wide array of drinks, all of which smelled horrible. “Choose your poison.” She said as she stuck the tray in their faces.

Noah reached for a clear drink which seemed to be the wrong choice seeing as the lady pulled the tray away and firmly said “No”. When he tried again, he got it correct and received a mug full of hot liquid that smelled putrid. Ronan was more successful on his first try and was left with a cold glass of apple juice.

“Thanks Calla.” Noah didn’t sound very thankful at all. All he got in return was a curt nod before the tall lady went back into the kitchen.

By now, Gansey had come back from wherever he had been hiding. He was accompanied by the short girl who Ronan already approved of for her gutsy decision to punch Gansey.

“Blue, meet Ronan and Noah. Ronan and Noah, meet —” Gansey’s introduction was cut short as Blue spoke over him.

“Hi Noah, I haven’t seen you around in a while. How’s the nose?” She asked, ignoring Gansey and Ronan’s presence.

Noah gave her a wave with his free hand, “It’s better now. Mom should be coming around next week. Are you up for another skateboarding lesson?”

Blue decided to try to fit herself in-between the two boys on the couch; it was a very tight squeeze, mostly because Ronan refused to budge. “Yes! Thank you.” She beamed, “I had no idea you knew Adam.”

Finally, Ronan decided to speak up. “How do you know Adam?”

She whipped around and took a long, hard look at Ronan; it seemed like she was deciding whether or not she was going to put up with him. He didn’t blame her but he could only hope that she’d somehow see that he was trustworthy. In the end, Blue came to some sort of conclusion. “We dated for a while in fifth grade and then he became the token boy in the house. Persephone’s practically adopted him.”

Who Persephone was didn’t matter. What did matter was the information that sitting right next to him was Adam’s _ex_. There’d been an unending barrage of emotions since the day had began and it was starting to get exhausting. It was a dumb question, it was a dumb idea, but before he could think about it, the next words that came out of his mouth were, “How long did you date?”

Blue narrowed her eyes, “Why does it matter?”

It was too late to fake nonchalance and frankly, he was too upset to fake it as well. Shrugging, Ronan said, “It doesn’t. Just wanted to know more about who he’s putting his dick in.”

That rightfully earned him a slap. “Don’t you _dare_ speak to me that way.”

“Ronan _Lynch_.” Gansey grabbed his arm and pulled him off the couch, not caring if he spilled his apple juice or not. “Blue, I’m so sorry.”

“Since when did you two fucking make amends?” Ronan hissed and shook Gansey’s hands off of him.

“We haven’t.” Blue had now claimed the empty space on the couch, it was clear he wasn’t welcome in the couch club anymore.

“Ronan, say sorry.” This time, it was Noah who spoke up.

It hadn’t been fair of him to say that, Ronan was well aware of that fact. No amount of jealousy could excuse it. There was an uncomfortable amount of silence, and right before the possibility of an apology could disappear, he managed to say “sorry” through gritted teeth.

“Excuse me?” Blue asked sarcastically, “I didn’t hear that.”

“ _Fuck!_ Sorry! Is that better?”

“Could’ve done with less swearing but sure.” And that was the end of that. Blue had turned herself away from Ronan and jumped back into conversation with Noah.

There was no point in listening into the conversation so he decided to wordlessly excuse himself from the hallway and explore the rest of the house. Maybe he could find Adam. Maybe he could get answers that way.

Whoever had designed the house must’ve been drunk when they’d done it because there was not a single thing that made sense. It was even worse than the decision Gansey had made to merge the kitchen and the bathroom into one. As he walked through room after room, Ronan started to feel eyes burn into the back of his head. _Don’t turn around_ , his subconscious screamed.

Finally, he reached a room that no light could touch; the lightbulbs had been taken out and there were no windows but even then, it was unnaturally dark. To make matters worse, the temperature had dropped several degrees. In the centre of the room was a table with one seat, it was facing away from the door. As he slowly moved forward in an attempt to make out some of the objects on the table, a slight breeze picked up.

“What are you doing here?” A voice behind him asked.

Ronan nearly jumped out of his skin. He still didn’t turn around. “Trying to find the bathroom.”

“Oh, are you Adam’s friend?” The voice asked.

Friend was too simple a word. He caught some movement from his peripheral vision. “Yes.”

“You can face me, it’s alright.”

And so, Ronan turned around. In front of him was a very small lady, not in stature but in nature.

“Oh.” She said, as if she’d just recognised him. “Come with me.”

 

————

 

As Maura applied aloe onto the burn, she tsked. “Who did you manage to upset?”

Somewhere at the back of his consciousness, Adam knew the answer, but it seemed to absurd to say. He just wished it was Ronan who was looking after his hand. “I’ve been hearing things.”

“Don’t we all?” Maura remarked as she searched for a bandage and then promptly stopped, deciding that it was better to leave it as it was.

“No, I mean, in my left ear.”

This didn’t please Maura - her mouth turned into a thin line. “Hmm….”

Before he could stop himself, Adam continued. “Noah’s dead.”

Unsurprisingly, this further upset her. She rested against the sink and took a few moment to contemplate what to say. “How?”

“I don’t know. We found his body on a Ley Line.”

“Oh, thank god.” She let out a sigh of relief and put her hand over her heart, “You gave me such a scare, Adam.”

“But he’s _dead_.”

“I’m sure Persephone has told you this before.” Maura mumbled mostly to herself. “Time isn’t —” She made some sort of gesture that was hard to decipher but it seemed it was either _parallel_ or _straight,_ “It’s more —” she made another gesture which was easier to decipher seeing as she was wiggling her hands wildly.

“Okay.” He said, not taking his eyes off of her. Persephone had talked to him about time before but it hadn’t been as straight forward as this explanation was. “And?”

“On Ley Lines, things are even more —” This time, she twirled around. “Do you understand that?”

 _Somewhat_ , he wanted to say. “Noah’s not dead?” Was what he actually asked.

“Well - no - he’s dead, we all are.” And that was the end of it. Maura stepped away from him and opened the door.

Two familiar figures were already waiting for them when they exited the room. For some reason, Ronan looked sheepish.

“I think we should set up some beds.” Persephone said in her unusually quiet voice, “Nothing can be solved tonight.”

Maura didn’t look the least bit surprised. “That settles it then.”

 

————

 

There was an unfortunate lack of intimacy in the bedroom setups. For the first time in what felt like years, Adam had to sleep by himself. Well, not exactly. He was sharing a room with Blue but it was alone in a way he had grown unfamiliar with. If he could’ve snuck past without any consequences, Adam would’ve slipped into the room where Ronan was in a heartbeat.

He’d always been desperate for touch; it was an itch that could never be scratched. Ever since meeting Ronan, he’d been spoiled with it. Throughout the day (and the night), there would be fleeting (and lingering) moments of skin to skin contact that Adam had never had the luxury of experiencing before. Now that he was exiled from Ronan’s presence, he realised how desperate he was for it.

It was nice to catch up with Blue, though.

“Those boys you’re friends with are bastards.” Were the first things she said after the lights were turned off.

There was no denying it. As much as he loved Ronan, ‘bastard’ did a good job of describing one of his many facets. “I know.”

“I don’t understand it. Noah’s _okay,_ I guess, but those other two are… they’re bastards.”

“I know, Blue.”

“Well, goodnight then, sulky pants.”

“Goodnight, sulkier pants.”

 

————

 

School was tough to deal with on the best of days, let alone on days after some magical bullshit had struck. To make things worse, their lunch was taken up by a rehearsal.

It was no surprise that Noah didn’t turn up - in fact, Ronan envied him seeing as Henry had decided to take on the role of Mercutio in his absence. When he inevitably arrived in Hell, Ronan was sure Henry would be waiting for him there dressed in a ridiculously dated outfit while reciting Shakespearean nonsense.

The man of his nightmares was currently standing on a chair with a microphone that was, thankfully, turned off. He was still yelling into it, though. “We’re doing the wedding today so I need the choir in front of the stage, stat!”

One of the worst things about the entire ordeal was the fact Ronan was forced into a poorly crafted wedding dress over his school uniform and an equally unflattering wig. It was supposed to be about historical accuracy or whatever the fuck but all it did was serve as a massive embarrassment. It was like wearing a “kick me” sign except ten times worse seeing as how stupidly handsome Adam looked in a suit all while he looked like an ugly cross dressing duckling.

At the very least, this impromptu theatre session allowed him to get some much needed time by Adam’s side. Maybe this was how that Twilight girl had felt about the freaky vampire guy.

Last night had been weird (and although he didn’t want to admit it, lonely); Ronan had been forced to set up shop with Persephone and even though they didn’t talk much, her very presence was enough to make him want to douse himself with holy water and get exorcised. Every time she looked at him, it felt like her beady eyes were slowly but very surely weeding out all of his secrets - secrets he didn’t want anyone touching. Just thinking about her made it feel like a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped on him.

For that reason, he nearly jumped out of his skin as Adam gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder. “Henry needs you.”

“Jesus fuck, of course he does.” Ronan harshly rubbed a hand over his face in an attempt to rid himself of Persephone’s presence, “Maybe I’ll finally get the chance to strangle him with this hair.”

“Good luck with that, Rapunzel.” For some reason, Adam still hadn’t moved his hand off of Ronan’s shoulder. The heavy weight of it made him feel like someone had sucked all the oxygen out of the room. After a few seconds too many, they parted ways and Ronan’s heart could beat again.

Unfortunately, Henry was still on the chair which meant the small joy of being able to look down at him had been taken away. It didn’t matter too much, at least, seeing as his well-practiced death stare didn’t discriminate against height. “What do you want, Cheng?”

“The man of the hour himself! It’s good to see you, Lynch.” Henry beamed, “I know this might be hard but I need you to use every single last drop of your acting prowess for this next scene.”

“Why aren’t you giving this lecture to Parrish?”

“He’s good at acting, you’re not.” He said it as if it was a widely accepted fact, “Listen, there’s no room for any dead-pan deliveries. I need you here and I need you _alive_.” Henry decided to shake him a little as he said that last part, which was extremely awkward with the extra height added.

The conversation was strangely veering too much towards a heart-to-heart for Ronan’s comfort. “If you think I’m going to say methinks and speaketh with a straight face, you’re going to be disappointed.”

“I don’t think you say anything with a straight face, Lynch.” Henry sighed and got off his pedestal, “Well, I can’t say I didn’t try.”

Ronan knew it was supposed to be a joke - knew it wasn’t a reference to being gay - but his brain went blank and his emotions haywire. He didn’t even realise he was tearing off his ridiculous wig and throwing it to the ground like some prima donna until he was in the hallway. 

While he was aware his overreaction was a build up of bottled up emotions, he was well aware it was a complete overreaction. Ronan had followed Gansey to the ends of the earth; for a long while, his only goal in life after the passing of his father had been to support Gansey in his search. Now those priorities were drastically shifting. The search didn’t feel paramount, anymore. It felt treacherous, yes, and his unwavering loyalty hadn’t disappeared, but what had once been a lifeline (or more accurately, a death wish) was slipping away from him.

All Ronan wished for now was the courage to meet Adam halfway and cross the bridge together; the constant doubting had become too much.

The distant screech of the door brought him back to earth. “Lynch, are you coming or not?” Henry called out at him, it seemed like he was holding the repulsive wig too.

Instead of verbally answering, Ronan waited a few seconds before walking back to the auditorium. “I’m not wearing the fucking wig, though.”

“Aye, aye, sir. Your wish is my command.” Henry dramatically threw the wig behind him, “You’ll have to wear it on the night, though. We can’t have a bald Juliet.”

“You made a bald joke last week. Are you running out of material already?”

 

————

 

Instead of returning to Adam’s apartment, they gave 300 Fox Way one last visit. To keep Ronan happy, he allowed him to break the speed limit while they drove there.

The house smelled strongly of cinnamon and peppermint which was, unsurprisingly, an overwhelming scent. Before they even sat down at the kitchen table, Calla literally hissed at Ronan and shoved two mugs of the horrible concoction into their hands.

“I don’t think she likes me.” He stage whispered.

Adam couldn’t stop himself from grinning, “What makes you think that?” 

“Ha, ha, smartass.”

Finally, Persephone entered the room and with her arrival, all the sounds of the world melted away. “I’m going to keep Noah,” She started, “He needs someone to look after him.”

From the way she was describing him, it sounded like he was a stray puppy.

“Do you know what that was?” Even though Ronan was usually the one to skip pleasantries, it was Adam’s turn today. “What happened?”

She sat herself down at the head of the table, “Remember what I told you.”

“That’s not an answer.” Ronan piped up.

“It’s the best answer I can give the both of you.”

It was clear that was the end of the conversation - Adam had been at this road block many times before and the least frustrating thing to do was to accept it, and move on. Before Ronan could argue it, Adam gently touched his forearm which did a pretty good job of silencing him. “Thank you, Persephone.”

She gave him a small smile, “You’re welcome.”

 

————

 

It was late. Later than usual. After the events of the past day, neither of them could find sleep so they laid awake as the moon cast strange, sad shadows on the walls. It was comforting to be back in the cramped apartment; it’s splintered floor and lowered ceiling had greeted them in the best way possible. They danced around the lingering questions about how Adam found the forest as they had briefly thrown lines at each other earlier in the evening. Time was running out as the production slowly put itself together; Ronan had been able avoid practicing for too long but Adam knew he’d be able to catch up quickly. But now the night had stilled - school was a thousand miles away and the supernatural even further.

Ronan’s usual pair of headphones had been swapped for earphones that couldn’t handle his usual volume; tinny music leaked out and Adam found comfort in the muffled sorrows of another person. Right as he was about to slip under, he felt a tap on his bandaged hand. He cracked an eye open and saw Ronan sat almost upright, offering him one of the earbuds. While Adam had been exposed to most of his music (willingly or unwillingly), he’d never been offered it in such a way before. It felt more than a simple request. He turned to the side so he could lay his deaf ear against the pillow and took the earphone. After that, Ronan laid back down so he could face him. They were close enough to share a pillow; with every breath Ronan took, Adam could feel it tickle his face.

It was a moment that was so gentle and completely untroubled - it was something that Adam hadn’t experienced before. He felt the desperate need to reach out and take Ronan’s hand; he wanted to feel his heartbeat; he wanted a reminder that this was real. It’d be too easy to lean over just a little more and kiss him, like he’d been aching to do for ages. As the lyrics “ _you don’t know a thing about my sins, how the misery begins_ ” faded into the background, Adam felt that he’d never understood someone so wholly in his life. As he saw Ronan’s smile softened by the moonlight, he knew the feeling was mutual.

Thankfully, Ronan found bravery in the darkness and shuffled closer, closing the gap to mere millimetres. Neither of them closed their eyes, neither of them backed away. Tonight wasn’t going to be a repeat of all the other nights; unspoken words and unspoken wants. He gently cupped Ronan’s face, running his thumb over his cheek, as he kissed him (“ _I’m burning! I’m burning!_ ”).

It was a clumsy act that was over too soon. The song must’ve ended somewhere amongst it because they were enveloped by silence.

It felt like the dam that had been carefully collecting and maintaining his feelings had finally been smashed - there was an outpour of want. More than Adam ever expected and more than he was fully equipped to handle. As Ronan moved to kiss him, Adam found himself running his hands over every inch of bared skin; when his hands inevitably snaked around to the back of his neck, Adam could only think of the sharp hooks of the tattoo. It was as if he’d been snared in the best way possible.

When they separated once again, Ronan took Adam’s hand and placed a soft kiss on its palm. In exchange, Adam kissed the skin under his leather bands.

As quick as it started, it ended. He gave back the borrowed earphone and turned to lay on his back while Ronan put his iPod on the ground and prepared himself for another restless night.

Something about the night had changed - as he drifted off to sleep, Adam could hear every bated breath, every lonesome cicada, every twin star.

The last thing he felt was Ronan’s hand on his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kiss your crush to mcr. just do it. (if anyone's wondering, the song is heaven help us)  
> Sorry for taking so long to upload this! As I've started uni, my schedule is a little more hectic so there might be longer breaks in the future. Thank you for being patient <3 
> 
> As always, if there's any mistakes, please let me know! I've tried my best to edit this but I just haven't had the time to, unfortunately. 
> 
> Tumblr: mcrmutual  
> TRC Tumblr: armenianronanlynch


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